KHAT IN MAIL PROMPTS BUST

WINNIPEG -- Winnipeg police have arrested a city resident after an
undercover operation netted more than 20 kilograms of khat, a plant used to
get high.

An investigation began in Montreal earlier this week after Canada Customs
officers detected khat in three parcels being mailed from East Africa to a
37-year-old Winnipeg man.

Officers, posing as postal agents, delivered the parcels Wednesday. They
returned with a search warrant and picked up the packages, along with cash
and bags of the drug.

Const. Devon Clunis said it's the first major khat bust in Manitoba. Police
did not name the accused. Khat, a bark-like drug, is grown primarily in
East Africa. It produces a high when chewed.

The plant is legal in many parts of the world, including Britain, where it
is sold in stores. But it is a controlled substance in Canada and the U.S.
and it is a criminal offence to possess it.