Title/comments revised in view of the value attached to the grass!
mac sokor still effing idiots!
Men arrested picking up Middle Eastern narcotic
By: Brian Hughes
Examiner Staff Writer
May 4, 2010
Two men were arrested as they tried to pick up more than $90,000 worth of Middle Eastern drugs at an Alexandria mall parking lot, authorities said.
Sharmarke Mohamed Ladane and Ali Ali Hussein were charged with possession and intent to distribute khat, a narcotic used commonly throughout East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, according to U.S. District Court records.
During a routine cargo check last week, border officials found 175 kilograms of khat in a shipment labeled "Filters and Paperboard," slated for delivery to the parking lot of Alexandria's Landmark Mall.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arranged the delivery of the drugs, during which they watched Ladane and Hussein unload them and put them in Hussein's Chevrolet Tahoe at the mall parking lot. The truck driver delivering the drugs to the men had agreed to wear a wire for immigration agents.
Ladane told ICE officials he was merely helping Hussein "pick something up" and added he did not use drugs -- khat was found hanging in his vehicle.
Both men are being held without bail pending their detention hearings Tuesday.
The amount of khat seized annually in the United States has grown nearly four-fold during the past decade, as more immigrants have sought to continue using what they consider a harmless morning ritual.
Many khat users say the drug is no worse than coffee, but the drug has been banned by federal law since 1993.
A recent World Health Organization report found that khat usage can lead to insomnia, increased blood pressure and even anorexia in some cases.
What is khat?
» The "flower of paradise" is a narcotic used commonly -- and legally -- in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It comes from the leaves and stems of a shrub and contains alkaloid cathinone, similar to amphetamine. The plant leaves are chewed like tobacco or brewed as a tea. Federal law has banned the drug since 1993.
Guess, Summer has officially begun! 
