Posted on 03/18/2007 8:12:38 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
The discovery of 1,000 pounds of the illegal stimulant khat in a Woodbury storage unit has led to felony drug-possession charges against a Minneapolis couple. Naser Omer Ali, 27, and his wife, Shukria Omer Ali, 25, were arrested March 8 after a Woodbury police officer discovered two bags of khat, a mild narcotic grown in East Africa, in their sport-utility vehicle. Police had pulled them over for an improper lane change and broken taillight.
Police also discovered receipts for ministorage units in Minneapolis, Richfield and Woodbury. Washington County narcotics officers searched all three units, but found khat only in the one in Woodbury. The khat leaves were stored in boxes that appeared to have been shipped from Africa through FedEx.
Police estimate that the khat stored in Woodbury had a street value of $400,000, which makes it one of the largest khat seizures ever in Washington County, said Brett Billmeyer, a sergeant with the Woodbury Police Department. "There have been some khat busts [in Woodbury], but nothing to this extent," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Yeah, those Somali taxi drivers are sooooo righteous about liquor.
Let's have them all take drug tests and see how "sober" they are.
It turns out that the khat was in shopping bags, in plain sight, in the back seat of the vehicle.
And, yes, local LEO's have plenty of experience with khat to know it when they see it.
Actually I knew the guy, he was from Ethiopia, and they did know that that substance was not legal , They would send drug traffickers to get the drugs, They had a brother in Woodbury that helped them, sure they would sell the stuff, but it was mainly to the elderly, the young people used this because it caused a heightened sexual experiences and helped the students to study better, It is a common recreational drug and they have this at every social gathering, the man had several prior arrests and such, so it was not just because of a broken tail light, plus the guy did not drive well, so then his name was probably run and seen that he had prior drug charges, that is what caused the police to search the guys car.
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