Fourteen Minnesota residents are among a 44-member international drug trafficking organization that was responsible for smuggling more than 25 tons of khat from Africa into the United States, the Drug Enforcement Administration said today.

Bob von Sternberg, Star Tribune
Last update: July 26, 2006

Khat, Natural Plant Stimulant

Fourteen Minnesota residents are among a 44-member international drug trafficking organization that was responsible for smuggling more than 25 tons of khat from Africa into the United States, the Drug Enforcement Administration said today.

The khat, a natural plant stimulant, was worth more than $10 million, the agency reported.

Thirty members of the organization, 10 of them from Minnesota, had been arrested by midday.

The 18-month investigation, dubbed "Operation Somalia Express," culminated in indictments announced this morning in New York City.

According to the indictment, the organization shipped khat from Africa to several western European countries and on to New York. From there, the drug was distributed to Minnesota, Ohio, Maine, Massachusetts, Utah, Washington, Illinois and the District of Columbia.

Once the khat was sold on the street, the proceeds from the sales were laundered through "hawalas," informal networks used in Africa and the Middle East to transfer money.

The principal Minnesota distributor of the drug was identified as Emil Moge Abdi. If convicted on khat-trafficking charges, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and 20 years on money laundering charges.

Assisted by the Hennepin County sheriff's office, federal agents arrested people at at least three locations in Minneapolis.

A hearing on the indictments was scheduled for 3 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

Source: Star Tribune, July 26, 2006