110 pounds of African drug khat seized at Pittsburgh airport

IMPERIAL, Pa. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have seized 110 pounds of an African drug being shipped through Pittsburgh International Airport.

The dried khat (KAT) plants were hidden among wigs sent from Kenya and were addressed to someone in McKees, Pennsylvania. There is no such place, but McKees Rocks and McKeesport are both Pittsburgh suburbs.

The plants are legal in Africa, but illegal in the United States. People chew the plant’s leaves for a stimulant effect similar to that caused by cocaine.

Authorities say they rarely seize large amounts of illegal drugs at the Pittsburgh airport and don’t usually prosecute those who ship khat from Africa. But investigators are trying to determine who was supposed to receive the drugs and whether there was any criminal intent on their part.