Importers of intoxicant khat leaves face the heat

Shiv Kumar

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Tribune News Service

Mumbai, July 19

Importers of Catha Edulis plant leaves, known as khat or kiraa and used as an intoxicant in parts of Africa and the Middle East, are facing the heat from the Narcotics Control Bureau and other agencies after the plant was notified under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act this year.

Customs officials said migrants from Ethiopia and Yemen were bringing in small quantities of khat as part of their personal baggage for sale to their fellow countrymen living in India. However, the quantities entering India went up substantially a few years ago and the government notified it as a drug under the NDPS Act in February.

“It is a punishable offence to import khat into India and international passengers found possessing it would be arrested immediately,” a customs official said. Sources said khat was now being classified along with ganja and charas as a drug and those possessing it could face up to 10 years in prison.

Classified as drug

• Khat is mainly chewed by addicts for its soporific effect. It is also boiled in water and the infusion drunk to induce euphoria 
• The government in February notified that khat was now being classified along with ganja and charas as a drug