The Wrath of Khat

Radley Balko | September 2, 2009

Several Seattle-area Somali immigrants are suing local police agencies, claiming they were wrongly rounded up in a massive sweep for khat done in conjunction with the DEA. Khat is a mild euphoric stimulant that's usually chewed in leaf form. It's illegal in the U.S. but ubiquitous throughout Africa, and common in U.S. cities with large East African immigrant populations.

Three years ago, armed agents from a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) task force crashed through the door of a Seattle apartment where Habibo Jama, a Somali refugee and U.S. citizen, lived with her brother, uncle and cousins. Jama, startled awake, opened her bedroom door in her nightshirt to find herself facing several men in black pointing guns at her and ordering her to the floor.

Almost simultaneously, at an apartment 20 miles away in Kent, Ali Dualeh, his wife and their seven children — ages 4 months to 17 years — jolted from bed when they heard a loud noise. Both parents made it to the hallway before they were tackled by agents from the Valley Narcotics Enforcement Team who had broken down their front door.

"Operation Somali Express" was a nationwide crackdown, but it's only real achievement appears to be bad blood between police and local Somali immigrant communities. Of the 19 men arrested in Seattle, 15 were dismissed without charges. According to the Seattle Times, most of those arrested in New York, Ohio, and Minnesota were never charged either. Agents seized money and property from many Somali families who were never charged, some of whom had to wait nearly a year before their savings and belongings were returned.

The paper suggests the raids may amount to yet another anti-drug operation that undermines the war on terror.

Some law-enforcement officials and Somali community leaders are saying the fallout from the operation has poisoned relations between law enforcement and the communities at a time when federal agents are looking for help.

Over the past two years, as many as 20 Somali men have disappeared from Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., apparently recruited in area mosques to wage jihad in their own country.

Some have turned up fighting for a radical Islamic group in Somalia called Al-Shabaab, which U.S. intelligence sources have tied to al-Qaida. One American youth blew himself up at a U.N. checkpoint last October, according to federal investigators...

It is a very difficult community to walk into," said one law-enforcement official assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Seattle who spoke on condition of anonymity because he does not have permission to talk to the media. "There is a lot of mistrust there and part of it is because of these raids."

The lawsuit also alleges the Seattle police department conducts no-knock raids (or at least knock-and-announce raids that don't allow a long enough period of time before forcing entry) for all of its narcotics warrants. If so, the department would be in violation of the U.S. Constitution. But as is often the case with these multi-jurisdictional operations, there seems to be a lot of buck passing about whose procedures were actually being followed.

The city, in a response to the lawsuit, denies its practice is unconstitutional and said its officers were acting under the direction of the DEA. The DEA referred all inquiries about the lawsuit to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The agency, in court filings, said it can't be held liable for what the Seattle police officers may have done in leading the raid on Jama's apartment.

On the addiction/physical harm table, khat ranks below just about every other mood-altering drug available. The harm caused by overly aggressive government efforts to prevent people from chewing it is another matter.

Comments

Art-P.O.G.|9.2.09 @ 2:19PM|#

Where do they think they are, chewing leaves? This is America, pal.

|9.2.09 @ 2:21PM|#

The worst part is that you just know that when the kids of cops or the DA or whomever get caught with a little khat, they get a slap on the wrist.

The Angry Optimist|9.2.09 @ 2:32PM|#

Really? Columbus has a big Somalian population. Maybe I can get hooked up with some khat. Any ideas if drug tests routinely test for amphetamine compounds?

|9.2.09 @ 2:34PM|#

Can I just say, emphatically:

Yo, fuck the SPD.

Mon|<ee|9.2.09 @ 2:37PM|#

"The worst part is that you just know that when the kids of cops or the DA or whomever get caught with a little khat, they get a slap on the wrist"

and even more ritalin

|9.2.09 @ 2:45PM|#

How much money are we going to spend hunting down something that's about as dangerous as Redbull? Why is that not crazy?

BTW, I'm under the impression that khat's potency is extremely time sensitive. The window to get the good stuff is something like 12 hours after harvest. Users in the horn of Africa meet the boats crossing from Arabia at the dock and drive full speed back to their towns so that they can chew the leaves immediately. Whatever the DEA is chasing down must be crap.

Tim|9.2.09 @ 2:46PM|#

On the addiction/physical harm table

Looking at that table, I have a hard time believing benzodiazepines are more physically harmful that alcohol, though they are about equally addictive.

|9.2.09 @ 2:47PM|#

In regards to the scale of harm versus dependence, why are alcohol and tobacco relatively low on harm? Most alcoholics and smokers I know are in for a future of expensive, and harmful health issues. Most cokeheads I know get a bunch of bloody noses, run out of money, and quit, going on to lead pretty normal lives.

|9.2.09 @ 2:47PM|#

TOA:

Yes, both amphetamines and methampetamines are part of four panel drug assay.

|9.2.09 @ 2:48PM|#

How much money are we going to spend hunting down something that's about as dangerous as Redbull?

Because Redbull (caffeine) has a long history of safe use in western society. Alcohol, nicotine and caffeine are all integrated into our society so it is to late to stop them, but we can prevent other dangerous drugs with laws.

Tomcat1066|9.2.09 @ 2:52PM|#

"Because Redbull (caffeine) has a long history of safe use in western society. Alcohol, nicotine and caffeine are all integrated into our society so it is to late to stop them, but we can prevent other dangerous drugs with laws."

OH Lord! I needed a good laugh.

Thanks!

Gunboat Diplomacy|9.2.09 @ 2:58PM|#

"khat ranks below just about every other mood-altering drug available."

Maybe, but if you've ever had to ride on a city bus seated next to a mildly euphoric Somali immigrant, I'm certain you'd see things differently.

/snark

Gunboat Diplomacy|9.2.09 @ 2:59PM|#

"How much money are we going to spend hunting down something that's about as dangerous as Redbull?"

If we don't, these darkies will be stealing our women.

jtuf|9.2.09 @ 3:12PM|#

The contrast between hte US's soft approach to the War on Terror and its unyielding approach to the War on Drugs is depressing.

|9.2.09 @ 3:15PM|#

The contrast between hte US's soft approach to the War on Terror and its unyielding approach to the War on Drugs is depressing.

Drugs fund terrorism.

Warty|9.2.09 @ 3:23PM|#

"Operation Somali Express"

Operation Get Behind The Darkies!

wayne|9.2.09 @ 3:25PM|#

The WoD has become a caricature of an insane asylum. Maybe this is what is needed to finally drive the majority opinion against it?

Tim|9.2.09 @ 3:29PM|#

The WoD has become a caricature of an insane asylum. Maybe this is what is needed to finally drive the majority opinion against it?

The majority will just see it as a dangerous drug used by dark skinned people and support the ban. Only a minority knows it is basically no worse than another East African stimulant, caffeine.

wayne|9.2.09 @ 3:29PM|#

BTW, I'm under the impression that khat's potency is extremely time sensitive. The window to get the good stuff is something like 12 hours after harvest. Users in the horn of Africa meet the boats crossing from Arabia at the dock and drive full speed back to their towns so that they can chew the leaves immediately. Whatever the DEA is chasing down must be crap.

Good point. Where does one get Khat in the US? Is it grown here to meet local demand?

Zeb|9.2.09 @ 3:30PM|#

When did we get to the point where a substance simply being a drug that people can take for pleasure is sufficient reason to criminalize it?

wayne|9.2.09 @ 3:31PM|#

Khat contains a number of chemicals among which are two controlled substances, cathinone (Schedule I) and cathine (Schedule IV). As the leaves mature or dry, cathinone is converted to cathine which significantly reduces its stimulatory properties. Cathinone is approximately 10 more times more potent than cathine and is only present in fresh leaves.

http://www.streetdrugs.org/khat.htm

wayne|9.2.09 @ 3:32PM|#

When did we get to the point where a substance simply being a drug that people can take for pleasure is sufficient reason to criminalize it?

Around 1930.

|9.2.09 @ 3:35PM|#

"How much money are we going to spend hunting down something that's about as dangerous as Redbull?"

If we stop these tactics, what will semi intelligent white guys do for a living?

|9.2.09 @ 3:37PM|#

They can get away from Somlia but not the guys dressed in black, kicking their doors down, and putting guns to their heads. At least Seattle didn't kidnap their male children and force them to join the militia.

Juanita|9.2.09 @ 3:37PM|#

When did we get to the point where a substance simply being a drug that people can take for pleasure is sufficient reason to criminalize it?

That is the way it is supposed to be, it has been that way a long time and it is going to stay that way. Drugs are not good for us. The government has a right and in fact an obligation to protect us from dangerous drugs.

Xeones|9.2.09 @ 3:40PM|#

I no longer find "Juanita" amusing. The War On Drugs must be getting to me.

WWJGD|9.2.09 @ 3:40PM|#

Ah...Khat...

A Somali expert/anarchist punk band singer/my international relations professor told me the stuff had all the benefits of marijuana and pot with none of the downsides of either.

Damn EU banned it right before I go to Amsterdam.

As always, props to Balko for further depressing me.

Joe M|9.2.09 @ 3:43PM|#

Juanita, I can't tell if you're joking or not, but I hope you are.

wayne|9.2.09 @ 3:45PM|#

Joe M, nah, Juanita is along time troll. Her schtick is to caricature the drug war. She won't break character under any circumstances. Kind of funny, really.

wayne|9.2.09 @ 3:47PM|#

Leaves less than 48 hours old are preferred to ensure a maximum potency of cathinone. However, Khat can be preserved by freezing, the same way that vegetables and meats are kept fresh in the United States.

Maybe this explains the availability in the US?

Brian Lockwood|9.2.09 @ 3:47PM|#

Anyone else think that dependence/harm chart is bull? It must only include physical harm and not the mental harm that drugs like LSD and Marijuana inflict. We all know these drugs are the major cause of an affliction known as hippies.

wayne|9.2.09 @ 3:51PM|#

I think the username "Juanita" is a play on the term "Marijuana". I like it.

|9.2.09 @ 3:52PM|#

Juanita,

You are the awesomest troll, ever.

wayne|9.2.09 @ 3:54PM|#

Marijuanita, how often do you consume Khatshit?

|9.2.09 @ 4:06PM|#

Juanita is a not a troll, she is performance art. One note performance art. I prefer Tony, or, of course, Neil.

|9.2.09 @ 4:10PM|#

"A Somali expert/anarchist punk band singer/my international relations professor told me the stuff had all the benefits of marijuana and pot with none of the downsides of either."

What downsides?

|9.2.09 @ 4:13PM|#

I assume the post title is supposed to be some sort of movie reference. Give the obscure movie puns a rest, guys.

WWJGD|9.2.09 @ 4:17PM|#

What downsides?

He referred to the physically negative feelings post-consumption. To be more specific, he said something like it had the tongue-loosening powers of alcohol without the sluggishness afterward and the relaxation effects of marijuana without the....paranoia? crashing? I can't remember. I'm immune to marijuana so I don't have any experience with it.

WWJGD|9.2.09 @ 4:20PM|#

"A Somali expert/anarchist punk band singer/my international relations professor told me the stuff had all the benefits of marijuana and pot with none of the downsides of either."

Wow, I just realized I meant to say marijuana and alcohol.
Dumb...

|9.2.09 @ 4:20PM|#

"Drugs fund terrorism."
only because prohibition creates a black market that makes drugs a lucrative investment for them.
If it were legal, it would cut the legs off from under them. They would not be able to extort farmers or have a strangelhold over producers since anyone could then produce it.
Plus the market would drive the price down.

|9.2.09 @ 4:22PM|#

"""Juanita is a not a troll, she is performance art."""

It's an off Broadway thing, but we get free previews on H&R

BakedPenguin|9.2.09 @ 5:25PM|#

Looking at that table, I have a hard time believing benzodiazepines are more physically harmful that alcohol, though they are about equally addictive.

I have some serious questions about that chart. Look at where "solvents" are. You have to be fucking kidding me. Chronic huffers suffer brain damage on a level of chronic narcoleptic users. There's no coming back from that shit - these people are inflicting retardation on themselves. (Or in the case of narcoleptics, their psychiatrist is).

Also, heroin is the most damaging drug on the chart, while amphetamines are in the middle of the pack. I get the feeling they're comparing IV heroin users to ritalin poppers. If they compared people who smoke / snort heroin vs. meth users, I think the metrics would be very different.

MattXIV|9.2.09 @ 7:27PM|#

I get the feeling they're comparing IV heroin users to ritalin poppers

I got the same impression. More casual opiate users tend towards pills and the common perscription opiates aren't on the chart, whereas amphetamines encompasses the preferred compounds of both heavy and casual users.

No idea how the solvents ended up there. Maybe because people are relatively unlikely to become heavy solvent users since they're not very fun. My incidental experience (ie not doing things in a fume hood that really should have been) resulted in mild intoxication similar to a couple drinks and a headache comparable to the worst hangovers I've ever had.

Art-P.O.G.|9.3.09 @ 12:54AM|#

:::shakes fist at Sugarfree:::

Paul|9.3.09 @ 12:56AM|#

But hey, we're a' teeterin' on the edge of legalizing a plant... or so I hear. Meter on my bet's still runnin.