Officers Find 368 Pounds Of Khat In 8 Suitcases At Dulles

STERLING, VA — A New York man faces felony charges after federal officers reported finding nearly 368 pounds of khat in his luggage at Washington Dulles International Airport, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police charged Mohamed Diawara, 25, with possession with intent to distribute and transporting a controlled substance into Virginia, CBP said.

Diawara arrived Friday night on a flight from Paris and was referred by CBP officers for a secondary inspection, according to the agency. Officers searched his eight checked suitcases and discovered what CBP described as a commercial quantity of a dried organic substance.

Khat Valued At About $44,000

Field tests identified the substance as khat, or Catha edulis, CBP said. The khat weighed a combined 367 pounds, 9 ounces and had an estimated street value of about $44,000.

CBP officers seized the khat and transferred Diawara to MWAA Police, according to the agency. Police arrested him Saturday.

“This is a brazen attempt at smuggling a bulk amount of illegal khat into the United States, but an attempt that failed due to the exceptional work of highly skilled Customs and Border Protection officers,” Christine Waugh, CBP’s area port director for Washington, D.C., said in a statement.

CBP Reports Increase In Khat Seizures

CBP said its officers have seen an increase in travelers attempting to bring khat into the country in their luggage. Officers reported separate seizures of 412 pounds and 847 pounds of khat at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport during the previous week.

Khat, also known as Abyssinian tea and African salad, is typically grown in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. People chew it for its amphetamine-like effects or boil its dried leaves to make a stimulant tea, according to CBP.

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The Drug Enforcement Administration says khat contains two central nervous system stimulants. Cathinone is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, while cathine is classified as a Schedule IV controlled substance.

Symptoms of khat toxicity can include delusions, loss of appetite, difficulty breathing, increased blood pressure and an elevated heart rate, according to CBP. The World Health Organization classified khat as a drug of abuse in 1980.

CBP officers and agents seized about 46,000 pounds of khat during the federal fiscal year that ran from Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025. The agency reported seizing nearly 19,000 pounds during the first nine months of the current fiscal year, from Oct. 1, 2025, through July 31, 2026.