Dulles CBP officers seize 368 pounds of khat, MWAA Police arrest traveler

STERLING, Va. – A New York man found himself behind bars on Saturday after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized nearly 368 pounds of khat in his baggage at Washington Dulles International Airport on Friday night.

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police charged Mohamed Diawara, 25, on felony charges of

A New York man was arrested when he attempted to smuggle 368 pounds of khat.

possession with the intent to distribute and transporting a controlled substance into the Commonwealth of Virginia.

CBP officers initially referred Diawara to a secondary inspection after he arrived on a flight from Paris. Officers inspected his eight checked suitcases and discovered a commercial quantity of a dried organic substance. Field tests identified the organic substance as khat (Catha edulis).

The khat weighed a combined 367 pounds, 9 ounces and had a street value of about $44,000.

CBP officers seized the khat and turned Diawara over to MWAA Police officers.

“This is a brazen attempt at smuggling a bulk amount of illegal khat into the United States, but an attempt that failed due to the exceptional work of highly skilled Customs and Border Protection officers,” said CBP Area Port Director Christine Waugh, Area Port of Washington, D.C. “CBP continues to prioritize intercepting dangerous drugs along our nation’s borders, and we work continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold smugglers accountable.”

Khat is illegal and poses severe health risks to users.

CBP officers are seeing an increase in khat being smuggled in traveler baggage. CBP officers at seized 412 pounds of khat and 847 pounds of khat in separate seizures last week at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Khat, known as Abyssinian tea and African salad, is typically grown in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and is chewed for its amphetamine-like effect. Users also boil dried khat leaves to create a stimulant tea.

According to the DEA, khat contains two central nervous system stimulants -- cathinone, which is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, and cathine, a Schedule IV controlled substance. Symptoms of khat toxicity include delusions, loss of appetite, difficulty breathing, and increased blood pressure and heart rate. The World Health Organization classified khat as a drug of abuse in 1980.

CBP officers and agents seized about 46,000 pounds of khat last fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025) and seized nearly 19,000 pounds of khat during the first nine months of this fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2025, through July 31, 2026).

Every day, CBP officers and agents seized an average of about 1,600 pounds of dangerous drugs last year at and between our nation’s air, sea, and land ports of entry. See CBP’s enforcement stats to learn about what else CBP is encountering at our nation’s borders.

CBP's border security mission is led at our nation’s Ports of Entry by CBP officers and agriculture specialists from the Office of Field Operations. CBP screens international travelers and cargo and searches for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive weeds and pests, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.

Learn more at www.CBP.gov.

Follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on X @DFOBaltimore and CBP’s Office of Field Operations on Instagram @cbpfieldops.

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