By Robb Murray
MANKATO — A drug bust during the weekend netted a boxful of a substance authorities don’t see too often in these parts.
A nearly 17-pound box of khat — a plant popular and legal in East Africa where users chew it to get a caffeine-like stimulus — was seized at a home at 212 Thayer St.
After seizing the khat, authorities arrested three women on felony fifth-degree drug possession: Faduma Jama, 19, Fardousa Jama, 23, and Mumino EEnow, 48, all of Mankato.
The box of khat came to the attention of authorities from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. They intercepted the box, which was originally sent from France, opened it, discovered the khat and notified Mankato authorities.
Agents with the Minnesota River Valley Drug Task Force then executed a controlled delivery, in which an agent works undercover as a delivery driver from a legitimate package delivery company.
Once the package was signed for, task force agents executed a search warrant at the residence. They seized the box of khat and some additional khat already there.
The khat seized has an estimated street value of about $6,000.
Technically, the three women could land in jail if authorities pursue and prove a case against them and a judge believes jail time is appropriate. (The reality is that first-time offenders on fifth-degree drug crimes rarely go to prison.)
Drug task force agents Ginger Peterson and John Judd said khat that reaches Minnesota is hardly ever intended for sale. It is used by the recipient, who happens to come from a culture where khat is legal.
Khat is a flowering evergreen shrub native to East Africa. When fresh, khat is more potent. After 48 hours, its potency diminishes substantially. Khat in the form seized during the weekend was of the milder variety.
Peterson said the drug’s users are primarily immigrants.
“In the time I’ve been here,” Peterson said, “I’ve never seen anyone use it except East Africans.”
