THE canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has seized 2,000 kg of khat from a container destined for Canada, reports the Surrey Now-Leader.
The CBSA declared its Metro Vancouver Marine Operations department was involved.
Khat is an illegal leafy green plant that can be used as a stimulant and has a similar effect to an amphetamine.
The drug is mostly used in North-East Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula, and by expatriate communities from these regions.
CBSA declared its Pacific Region Intelligence Section and the National Targeting Centre identified a container of interest and referred it for examination.
The marine container imported from Kenya contained bags of tea leaves.
'Border services officers from Metro Vancouver Marine Operations examined the container using a wide range of detection tools and technology, and upon physical inspection, noted discrepancies in the packaging and the substance within the bags,' said the CBSA.
Officers sent 125 bags containing a dried leafy substance to a lab for analysis and identification, confirming the substance to be khat.
'The active ingredients contained in khat are cathine and cathinone, which produce a stimulant effect similar to amphetamine when the green parts of the plant are ingested,' said CBSA.
'Khat is a stimulant that since 2005 has been considered by the World Health Organisation as an addictive drug of abuse. There are no accepted medical uses for khat,' said CBSA.
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The CBSA declared its Metro Vancouver Marine Operations department was involved.
Khat is an illegal leafy green plant that can be used as a stimulant and has a similar effect to an amphetamine.
The drug is mostly used in North-East Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula, and by expatriate communities from these regions.
CBSA declared its Pacific Region Intelligence Section and the National Targeting Centre identified a container of interest and referred it for examination.
The marine container imported from Kenya contained bags of tea leaves.
'Border services officers from Metro Vancouver Marine Operations examined the container using a wide range of detection tools and technology, and upon physical inspection, noted discrepancies in the packaging and the substance within the bags,' said the CBSA.
Officers sent 125 bags containing a dried leafy substance to a lab for analysis and identification, confirming the substance to be khat.
'The active ingredients contained in khat are cathine and cathinone, which produce a stimulant effect similar to amphetamine when the green parts of the plant are ingested,' said CBSA.
'Khat is a stimulant that since 2005 has been considered by the World Health Organisation as an addictive drug of abuse. There are no accepted medical uses for khat,' said CBSA.
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