You’ve probably never heard of khat. Most Americans haven't. But in the span of just a few days this August at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), federal agents seized a staggering 1,200 pounds of the stuff.
To put that in perspective, that isn't just a casual traveler bringing home a souvenir. That is a massive, coordinated effort to flood the streets with a controlled substance.
If you travel internationally, you’ve likely seen the baggage claim area as a place to grab your bags and escape the airport. For Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, it’s a high-stakes hunting ground.
What exactly is khat?
Khat is a plant native to the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa. It’s not your average garden herb. When you chew the fresh leaves or boil them into tea, they act as a potent stimulant.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) doesn't mess around with it. The plant contains cathinone—a Schedule I controlled substance—and cathine, which is a Schedule IV substance. Think of it as having amphetamine-like effects. The World Health Organization officially labeled it a drug of abuse way back in 1980. Users often report increased heart rate, blood pressure, and in severe cases, full-blown delusions.
How they get caught
The BWI incident started when officers found five duffel bags abandoned on the carousel after a flight from London arrived. The owner had vanished. They initially thought it was just tea leaves, but field tests quickly cleared that up.
By the time the dust settled, they had intercepted over 400 pounds from that specific batch, with another 800-plus pounds seized shortly after. The strategy here is classic smuggling: use traveler baggage to move volume, hoping that the sheer density of airport traffic will hide the shipment.
The smugglers made a tactical error, though. They got spooked.
When you see CBP officers hovering around a baggage carousel, the instinct for a smuggler is to run. Abandoning the bags seems like a smart way to distance yourself from the crime, but those bags have tags. CBP agents didn't need to catch the person in the act to know exactly who they were looking for. They already had their identity from the flight manifest and the luggage claims.
Is this becoming a trend?
You might think 1,200 pounds is an anomaly, but it’s actually part of a much larger global picture. CBP officials reported seizing about 46,000 pounds of khat in the 2025 fiscal year alone.
Why move it through airports if it’s so risky? Commercial shipments are often tracked and screened more aggressively. Smugglers try their luck with passenger baggage, thinking it’s a "soft" target compared to cargo containers.
It clearly isn’t working.
What you need to know as a traveler
If you’re wondering why this matters to you, consider how it impacts your travel experience. Increased enforcement means tighter scrutiny in baggage claim. If you’re traveling from regions where khat is culturally normalized—like parts of East Africa or the Middle East—know that the rules in the United States are absolute.
- Don't touch unknown bags: If you see someone acting suspicious near a carousel or abandoning luggage, keep your distance and alert security.
- Know the rules: Bringing botanical products into the U.S. is strictly regulated. Even if it’s legal in the country you’re visiting, it’s often prohibited here.
- The "abandonment" trick never works: As we saw in Baltimore, abandoning luggage doesn't wipe your name from the flight record.
Federal agents are getting better at identifying high-risk routes. If you’re flying from a hub like London, expect extra eyes on the baggage claim area. The goal for authorities is to stop these substances before they hit the streets, and they have the technology and intelligence to back that up. Keep your bags clearly identified, move through the terminal efficiently, and always double-check what you’re packing before you leave the country.
Smuggling is a losing game. The massive haul at BWI proves that even in the chaos of a busy airport, nothing stays hidden forever.
