U.S. Arrests 44 Members of Khat Importing Conspiracy

On July 26, 2006, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) announced the indictment of 44 members of a criminal enterprise that imported the drug khat from the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia and Kenya), distributing it throughout the U.S. and returning the money to the producers in the Horn of Africa through hawalas. Khat is a narcotic shrub which costs about $10 a kilogram in Ethiopia and about $900 a kilogram in the U.S.