Somali suspected of smuggling drug packed with tea leaves

Budapest’s chief prosecutor has brought charges against a Somali man who is suspected of smuggling large quantities of the stimulant drug Khat into Hungary.

The 43 year-old who has Austrian citizenship imported the illicit drug mainly from Ethiopia and Angola between March 2016 and February 2017, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Khat was packed with tea leaves and shipped by air mail to various post offices in Hungary.

On one occasion when the suspect tried to pick up mail using a fake Finnish passport, customs police identified him and took him into custody.

In April 2016, Hungarian police said it seized almost one tonne of Khat at Budapest international Liszt Ferenc Airport in a single week.

According to a report by police magazine Zsaru, three Somali Khat dealers were arrested in Austria, one of whom lived in Budapest. The suspects smuggled four tonnes of the drug by van to Vienna, the magazine said.

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Source: MTI