Dulles Customs Seizes 370 Pounds of Khat, Charging 25-Year-Old Mohamed Diawara

Q: What hidden liver-destroying compound makes this obscure East African plant a sudden top target for US border agents?

The key compound is **cathinone**, the main psychoactive chemical in fresh khat and the reason U.S. authorities treat the plant as an illegal drug. Khat, a stimulant shrub grown mainly in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, also contains **cathine**, but cathinone is the more potent and more legally serious ingredient. U.S. authorities classify cathinone as a **Schedule I controlled substance**, which is why Customs and Border Protection is aggressively targeting large airport shipments. The “liver-destroying” concern comes from emerging medical evidence linking chronic khat use — especially exposure to cathinone — to **liver injury, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and in some reports progression to fibrosis and cirrhosis**. Recent research from Ethiopia found khat chewers had significantly higher **AST and ALT** liver enzyme levels than non-users, with heavier and longer use associated with worse results. Case reports cited by researchers say liver damage improved when khat use stopped and worsened with re-exposure, strengthening suspicions of a causal link. That health risk adds to khat’s better-known stimulant effects, including elevated heart rate, higher blood pressure, appetite suppression, insomnia, paranoia, and hallucinations. For border agents, the recent seizures around Washington and Baltimore reflect not just a smuggling pattern but a plant whose active chemical profile puts it squarely in U.S. drug enforcement territory.

2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 20

370 pounds of khat were seized at Dulles International Airport on Friday night, and Mohamed Diawara, 25, of New York was charged with intent to distribute and transporting a controlled substance into Virginia.
The Dulles bust followed a string of similar interceptions in the Baltimore-Washington area: about 300 pounds left in five duffel bags at BWI, another 80 pounds arriving the next day, and nearly 850 pounds seized from two U.S. citizens last Thursday.
Those roughly 1,200 pounds carried an estimated street value of about $150,000, and Customs and Border Protection said its investigation into the three Baltimore-area incidents is continuing.
CBP has seized nearly 19,000 pounds of khat nationwide from Oct. 1 through July 31, though experts say much more of the East African stimulant still routinely enters the United States.