Feds Uncover Sophisticated Drug Smuggling Ring ( Khat from Somalia )

The Indy Channel ^ | February 23, 2011

[mlocher]

Khat is a plant that grows plentifully in east Africa, specifically in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia.

I know of one of its citizens that is acting like it has had too much khat over the last 2 years.

[tet68]

Diversity, isn’t it wonderful.
I can’t wait till we meet the aliens from
the planet MOngo, with their fantastic
mind altering clysters.

[buccaneer81]

Meh...this is an old story here in Columbus and Minneapolis.

Bottom line, they'll get away with it on multicultural and religious grounds.

[Deaf Smith]

"traffickers used cell phones and sophisticated code to smuggle the drug from Africa"

You can smuggle a physical product over wireless? Who knew?

[DemforBush]

Just for the general FYI, the active ingredient in khat is cathinone. If I understand it correctly, chewing khat is like taking low-grade speed, though obviously it varies by the amount chewed, strength of the leaves, etc.

[Frantzie]

I remember the newsmedia going on and on about poor Somalia yelled at the TV at the time to Poppy Bush - Don’t go there!

[TigersEye]

It sounds like a cross between coca leaf and cannabis.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Sophisticated and Somalia in the same sentence? Color me stunned.

Anyhow, why is khat such a big deal and caffeine not?

[Christian Engineer Mass]

Caffiene isn’t a drug. It’s a dopamine inhibitor blocker. Your body’s own dopamine is the drug.

[blackdog]

The men sit around a table, chew khat, drink tea, and plan big things. Kinda like a middle east version of Kentucky meth heads in a debate. Same dental results too.

[TigersEye]

More on Khat.

Khat

Khat is in the Celastraceae family. There aren't many medicinal or euphoric plants in that family that I know of.

[tickmeister]

OK, they chew the stuff and it makes their breath stinky, rots their teeth and makes them stupid. How would you tell the difference?

[TigersEye]

That's not correct. Caffeine is an adenosine inhibitor.

Caffeine readily crosses the blood–brain barrier that separates the bloodstream from the interior of the brain. Once in the brain, the principal mode of action is as a nonselective antagonist of adenosine receptors.[72][73] The caffeine molecule is structurally similar to the aglycone of adenosine, adenine, and is capable of binding the adenosine receptors on the surface of cells without activating them (an "antagonist" mechanism of action), thereby acting as a competitive inhibitor.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

During the Battle of Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down), the Somali fighters were all high on Khat.

[wku man]

There was a khat bust in Meridian, Idaho (suburb of Boise) two years back. The local news media tried to spin it that the drug was headed to Minneapolis and points east, completely ignoring the Somalis, Sudanese and other African refugees that have been imported into downtown Boise over the last few years by our socialist mayor, Comrade Dave Bieter.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

[buccaneer81]

So Boise has been infiltrated as well. Disgusting. Well, you’ve joined the ranks of Columbus, Minneapolis and Lewiston, Maine as being infected by the absolute bottom of the barrel subhumans on the planet.

[Cheesehead in Texas]

It is sort of like low grade speed combined with a marijuana buzz. You have to chew a whole shrubbery to get high. I tried some when I was on vacation in Yemen.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Pity the poor fool who mistakes poison oak for this.

[LanaTurnerOverdrive]

Khat? Please. Not much different than chewing tobacco.