QAT DRUG BUST BIGGEST EVER FOR CITY POLICE

Tip About Shipment Of Mild Narcotic Came From Border Services Agents
At Airport

EDMONTON - Police made their first major qat bust last week, seizing
almost as much of the leafy drug as was collected in 16 separate
seizures at Edmonton International Airport in 2007.

Officers, tipped last week by the Canada Border Services Agency,
intercepted the drug at a hotel near 118th Avenue and 65th Street.

"The destination for the delivery was a hotel suite," said police
spokeswoman Karen Carlson.

When chewed, qat is a mild narcotic. The plant is common in the Middle
East and eastern Africa, and the leaves are best when fresh.

They typically have a shelf life of 48 hours, said border services
spokeswoman Lisa White, so the drug is often shipped frozen.

In this case, the 135 kilograms of qat leaves were fresh. White did
not say where the cargo came from.

"We're the frontline of defence. We stop goods (or) people from coming
into the country that are inadmissible," White said, which means air
cargo and commercial shipments are checked.

"This is not uncommon for us; we seize qat all the time."

In 2007, 140 kilograms of qat were seized at the Edmonton airport.
There were 60 busts at the Calgary International Airport, where 576
kilograms of qat were seized.

White said border services agents come across the drug more now than
they did a few years ago.

In many countries, qat is not illegal.

Carlson said small amounts of qat have been seized on Edmonton's
streets, but Friday's bust was "the first of its kind in the city."

In the past, Edmonton police gang unit officers have described how
Sudanese gangs get involved in trafficking cocaine and qat.