Monday, December 02, 2013
A chewable African plant that investigators in Texas believe may be
linked to terrorism groups has quietly launched a lengthy investigation
in Houston and produced multiple arrests.
The Austin American-Statesman reported Sunday that Muslim civil
rights groups are now questioning whether the Texas Department of Public
Safety has crossed a line. The agency last year included the
olive-shaped leaves known as khat on a statewide threat assessment.
Khat is grown in the Horn of Africa. State investigators say plant
sales are suspected to benefit terrorist groups, but there is wide
disagreement over the strength of that link. A Texas DPS' threat
overview says the "chewable narcotic plant grown in the Horn of Africa
whose sale abroad is suspected to benefit Africa-based terrorist
organizations such as al-Shabaab."
That assessment, the newspaper says, is based on a congressional
testimony given more than a decade ago by Steven McCraw
then-FBI-assistant director, now DPS director, who briefly said that it
is likely that khat proceeds "pass through the hands of suspected
(Islamic militants) and other persons with possible ties to terrorist
groups."
A state trooper noticed two men chewing khat while making a routine
traffic stop near Houston last year. DPS spokesman Tom Vinger says an
investigation hasn't yet led to terrorism-related charges.
Defense attorney Mark Correro says the Harris County prosecutor seems
to believe otherwise. "Almost the very first words out of his mouth
were, 'You know your clients are terrorists, right?" A spokesman for the
district attorney said the prosecutor was unavailable for an interview.
Also unavailable for interviews were Correro's clients. He said they
are Ethiopians legally in the U.S. that work as cab drivers or in
construction and use khat socially.
A U.S. Justice Department spokesman said he couldn't find any khat
cases that had yielded terrorism charges. Past arrests have included
money laundering charges based on transfers "to Somalia or other
countries where khat originates from," Andrew Ames of the department's
National Security Division wrote in an email. But "I am not aware of a
case that alleges where that money goes."
Muslim organizations fear the prosecution may be a witch hunt.
Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of the Islamic council's Texas
branch, said their "concern is always when you start hearing references
to terrorisms... Our concern is that it's not just a witch hunt."
"Initial vague references to terrorism usually don't pan out in
court," said Ibrahim Hooper, national spokesman for the Council on
American-Islamic Relations. "But the damage is done to Muslims."
Vinger said the investigation has led to the seizure of 1,000 pounds of the plant.
Unlike other plants that contain narcotic susbstances, like marijuana
or opium poppies, the khat plant is not illegal. The active chemical
substances in it, cathinone and cathine, are. And unlike other drugs
found in plants, the active ingredients in khat lose their potency and
can completely disappear in a matter of days. That, combined with the
restricted use of the plant to small immigrant communities has meant
infrequent prosecutions in Texas.