CUSTOMS SEIZE KHAT BOXES

Forty boxes of the class C drug khat, each weighing between five and seven
kilograms, have been seized by Customs so far this year.

Most of it had come from Africa through Melbourne, Customs drugs and
investigations manager Phil Chitty said.

Khat, when smoked, chewed or eaten, made the user euphoric, but had side
effects of depression, insomnia and anorexia, Mr Chitty said.

No one had been charged with importing the drug, though the packages were
addressed to members of the New Zealand Somali and Ethiopian communities,
mainly in Wellington and Christchurch, he said.

In Somalia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya, khat is a legal drug
used by much of the population.

Because Customs were interested in it from a quarantine perspective and as a
drug, little had reached its destination, Mr Chitty said. "And they send it
in boxes marked plant material."

It was possible that the people who posted it to New Zealand and Australia
did not realise it was illegal in New Zealand and Australia, he said. "We
are liaising with the Somali community."

Customs officials were warning the intended recipients to tell their friends
and relatives it was illegal, and would look at further enforcement measures
if the imports did not cease.

The Somali community did not comment yesterday, but the Refugee Council
expected to make a statement today.