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Police seize obscure drug popular in Somali communities
Thursday, February 28, 2008
By GLENN KAUTH, SUN MEDIA
A botched smuggling attempt has turned up
Edmonton's first significant seizure of khat - a plant containing an amphetamine-like stimulant, police said yesterday.
Border agents first picked up on the suspicious cargo shipped to Edmonton from London's Heathrow Airport late last week, leading to a seizure by police on Friday afternoon at a hotel near 118 Avenue and 65 Street. The investigation turned up 135 kilograms of the drug worth about $50,000, police said. They've also charged two men in connection to the bust.
GROWING USE
"We're starting to see an increase," acting Staff Sgt. Darren Derko of the city police drug unit said of khat, which causes mild excitement and euphoria.
"It's becoming an issue."
The exact threat khat poses is a subject of debate, however. The plant originates from east Africa, where people commonly smoke or chew it. In Somalia, the country most often associated with the drug, people compare it to the way Westerners use substances like caffeine or beer.
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| Police spokesman Karen Carlson holds bundles of the plant khat. Police seized 135 kilograms or $50,000 worth of the plant from an address near 118 Avenue and 65 Street last Friday. (David Bloom, Sun Media) |
But while khat is legal in places like
Britain and the
Netherlands, in
Canada, federal drug laws ban dealing, importing or exporting it. For Hassan Ali, the president of the Somali Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton, that's a good thing. "It's harmful to the community and to the members," said Ali, who emphasized that there are plenty of Somalis who don't use khat.
In particular, Ali worries about the social problems khat can create, including addiction. As well, at $60-$70 for a bundle of the drug, using it can get expensive. "It's an issue when families are raising five or six kids," said Ali.
He added that while he rarely used to hear about the drug in Edmonton, it's becoming more common as the city's Somali population grows. "It wasn't coming here. But it's following us," he said.
In Fort McMurray, chemist Samer Obayd also worries that khat is becoming more prevalent in that city's burgeoning Somali community. He runs a drug and alcohol testing lab and says he often hears about Somalis bringing the drug in from places like London and Toronto. But unlike other common drugs like cocaine, people don't deal it on the streets. Instead, they'll sell it among their networks of contacts, Obayd said.
DIFFICULT TO DETECT
"The problem is when it involves people who drive commercial vehicles," said Obayd, who noted a large number of Somalis get jobs as taxi or bus drivers when they first arrive in Fort McMurray. Police, he added, might not detect khat when they stop a driver because it would be easy to mistake the drug for chewing gum.
In Edmonton, Derko said officers are still learning about khat, a drug that until now police had only seen in small quantities.
In the meantime, the two men charged in last week's bust, 39-year-old Abdullahi Barre and 50-year-old Said Ali, face charges of importing a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Source: Sun Media, February 28, 2008