Suitcases of illegal khat seized at Dulles, 5th such discovery at Baltimore-area airports in past 2 weeks
A man has been arrested at Dulles International Airport after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers discovered 368 pounds of khat in his luggage, the latest in a string of khat seizures at Baltimore-area airports in recent weeks.
A news release from CBP confirmed Thursday the arrest of 25-year-old Mohamed Diawara, a resident of New York, after the incident on Aug. 14.
Police from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) charged Diawara with felony offenses of possession with the intent to distribute and transporting a controlled substance into Virginia.
CBP officers initially referred Diawara for a secondary inspection after he arrived on a flight into Dulles from Paris, France, the news release said.
CBP personnel then inspected his eight checked luggage bags and discovered "a commercial quantity of a dried organic substance." Testing identified the organic substance as khat.
Diawara was found to be carrying a combined 367 pounds, 9 ounces of the substance, which CBP said had a street value of about $44,000. CBP officers then seized the khat and turned Diawara over to MWAA officers.
"This is a brazen attempt at smuggling a bulk amount of illegal khat into the United States, but an attempt that failed due to the exceptional work of highly skilled Customs and Border Protection officers," said CBP Area Port Director Christine Waugh.
"CBP continues to prioritize intercepting dangerous drugs along our nation's borders, and we work continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold smugglers accountable," Waugh added.
The incident is the latest in a series of recent khat seizures at Washington D.C.-area airports. CBP confirmed in the news release that officers are seeing an increase in khat being smuggled in traveler baggage.
In one recent incident, CBP officers recovered nearly 331 pounds of khat from five suitcases at Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport (BWI) that arrived from London on Aug. 11. An additional suitcase containing 81 pounds of khat arrived on Aug. 12, bringing the total to approximately 412 pounds. The material was estimated to be worth $50,000.
Another incident involved CBP officers seizing nearly 850 pounds of khat from two U.S. travelers arriving at BWI who had arrived from London on Aug. 13. Officials said each traveler had six suitcases full of the substance, weighing a combined 846 pounds, with a street value of about $100,000.
CBP officers seized 412 pounds of khat and 847 pounds of khat in separate seizures last week at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
