By 2020 the Somalis in Seattle were growing bolder and attempting to smuggle tons of dried Khat in shipping containers.
— blue (@blue_prop) January 1, 2026
Shipments were being sent to Ohio, Minnesota, and Seattle.
8.
My Somalian story.
Catching Khat...a Thread.
After I retired from the Army I got a job as a Customs Inspector at the Port of Tacoma, this was shortly after 9/11.
Yes, I was a Fed.
1.I spent my first 5 years in Customs (later CBP) searching for drugs, radioactive material, and vessel crew members having ties to terrorism.
I worked at the Seaports of Tacoma and Seattle.
2.During my first 5 years the only time Somalis popped up on my radar was in relation to them trying to return to Somalia to fight with Al-Shabab. We would try to intercept outgoing shipments for JTTF.
3.In 2007 I went to Iraq to work with the Army searching for IED components along the Iraq-Iran border. Interesting work that would set me up for what I would do when I returned to the seaport.
4.I started working as a Trade Supervisor. Basically we examined all cargo entering at our seaport either by review of information or physically, and yes we reviewed every single shipment.
We were searching for violations of any US laws.
5.Khat is a schedule 1 narcotic and is illegal for import into the US.
Khat contains the alkaloid cathinone, a stimulant, primarily grown in East Africa.
We would encounter wet Khat in my early years.
We would hold it until it lost its potency and then destroy it.
6.In 2015 while supervising our Air Cargo section we discovered a shipment disguised as furniture containg 500 kgs of freeze dried Khat.
Something new.
Also we surmised from our research that it was coming from an industrial plant in Zambia...well south of Khats growing region.
7.By 2020 the Somalis in Seattle were growing bolder and attempting to smuggle tons of dried Khat in shipping containers.
Shipments were being sent to Ohio, Minnesota, and Seattle.
8.At the Ports of Tacoma and Seattle as well as other seaports around the US we were able to seize tons of freeze dried Khat, typically manifested as bath salts or tea.
9.I hope y'all found this interesting.
They are only here to take advantage of America.
10.• • •
Replies
Khat or Ghat is the largest crop grown in Yemen. The vast majority of Yemeni and Somali males will have a ball of Ghat in their mouths, chewing it much like men in the United States use Chewing Tobacco. Yemeni and Somali males do NOT like to work for a living. They sit around all day chewing Ghat while the women do all of the work. I know all this because I have been in both Somalia and Yemen under the US Military Vacation Plan!