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By Abdirahman Aynte |
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advertisements Minneapolis, MN (HOL)- Four men went on trial Tuesday in New York on charges of conspiracy to smuggle khat, a leafy stimulant mostly used by East African immigrants, to Minnesota. The men are among 44 people who were busted last July by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in a nationwide probe dubbed "Operation Somali Express."
Trials began Tuesday for Abdi Elmi Moge, Abdinur Ahmed Dahir, Ali Awad and Abdulahi Hussein. According to the DEA report, Moge and Awad are the principal dealers. The July operation, which was the culmination of an 18-month investigation, was the largest of its kind involving khat (pronounced cot) in U.S. history, according to DEA. Thirteen Minnesotans were among what prosecutors are calling a drug trafficking enterprise that smuggled more than 25 tons of khat from Kenya and Ethiopia, where it's grown. The men, all Somali immigrants, had day jobs working as barbers and interpreters, all the while pocketing millions of dollars from selling khat, according to the charges. Khat is a green leafy shrub that contains cathinone, an illegal stimulant to possess and use in the United States. According to prosecutors, the suspects received hundreds of packages full of bundles of khat wrapped in banana leaves to retain its optimum potency. Defense lawyers disputed Tuesday the illegality of khat by the time it reaches the United States, because, they argued, that khat morphs into a harmless shrub as its cathinone dies within 48 hours. Experts agree on that fact. Ahmed M. Warfa, an adjunct professor of biology at Salt Lake Community College in Utah who studied khat for more than 30 years as a professor at the Somali National University in Mogadishu, said the leaf loses its potency in "probably less than 48 hours." "But," he cautioned, "it continues to stimulate users significantly." Depending on the dose and the frequency taken, he said, khat "is a dangerous drug-it should be eradicated." Users chew the green leaf and swallow its juice for hours, typically with other users. It produces euphoria and has a mild to moderate psychological dependence, according to the World Health Organization. Defense Attorney Neil Checkman, who represents defendant Abdulahi Hussein, said that his client didn't know he was importing controlled substance, because khat isn't listed as such. "We're not on a crusade to legalize khat," he said in a telephone interview from New York, "but the reality is that khat completely changes its chemical composition within 72 hours." After that period, Checkman said, khat doesn't contain anything illegal. Being the hub of the Somali community in North America, prosecutors said the suspects used Minnesota as a staging ground for their global smuggling operation. After receiving overnight shipments through Britain and the Netherlands, suspects distributed the packages to a dozen or so states around the country. U.S. Customs agents seized more than 3,000 pounds of khat worth $1.25 million coming to Minnesota in 2005, according to a report by Hazelden. Aside from ballpark figures, there are no concrete numbers of khat users in Minnesota. But Warfa, the Somali professor, estimates that as many as 30 percent of Somalis around the world consume it on a regular basis. However, that might not be true in Minnesota, he said. The trial is expected to last for weeks. If convicted of conspiracy to distribute drugs, most defendants could face 20 years in prison. |
