O'Hare Officers Bust Three Travelers, Seize 1,172 Pounds of Khat Bound for NYC

Federal officers at Chicago O'Hare International Airport arrested three travelers and seized more than 1,000 pounds of khat over two separate busts, with the plant material hidden in pink plastic packages tucked inside checked luggage and carrying a street value of more than $140,000. The travelers, who had flown in from Senegal, were headed to LaGuardia International Airport in New York City when Customs and Border Protection officers intervened.

According to CBS News, the first bust involved two travelers from Senegal whose luggage contained 167 packages of khat hidden in pink plastic. A third traveler from Senegal, searched separately on August 20, was found carrying 93 more packages hidden in pink plastic bags and foil. In total, CBP seized 1,172 pounds of the plant, with 755 pounds taken on August 19 and 417 pounds the following day, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

CBP Chicago Field Office Acting Director Michael Pfeiffer credited intelligence sharing and threat-based screening strategies for the interceptions, saying the officers stopped the drugs before they reached New York, per the agency's account. All three travelers were arrested and charged with trafficking a controlled substance and with the manufacture or delivery of more than 200 grams of a Schedule I and II controlled substance, CBS News reported.

What Khat Is and Why It Moves Fast

Khat, also known as Abyssinian tea or African salad, is typically grown in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Users chew the fresh leaves for an effect similar to amphetamines, or dry and boil it into a stimulant tea, and excessive use can cause toxicity marked by delusions, loss of appetite, trouble breathing, and increased blood pressure and heart rate, per CBS News. The World Health Organization classified khat as a drug of abuse in 1980.

The plant's chemistry helps explain why smugglers race the clock. Per the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, khat contains cathinone, a Schedule I stimulant, and cathine, a Schedule IV substance. Fresh leaves deteriorate within 48 hours of harvest, and as the plant turns yellow-green, the potent cathinone breaks down into the weaker cathine — a decay window that pushes traffickers toward fast commercial air routes rather than slower cargo shipping.

Facing Illinois' Toughest Felony Tier

Under Section 401 of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, manufacturing or delivering 200 grams or more of a Schedule I controlled substance is a Class X felony, one that carries mandatory, non-probationary prison terms under state law. That statute places the three defendants in the most severe non-capital offense tier available to Illinois prosecutors, rather than facing only administrative federal penalties.

Part of a Broader Surge in Airport Seizures

The O'Hare busts land amid what CBP describes as a nationwide uptick in khat smuggled through travelers' luggage. The agency has reported recent seizures at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Dulles International Airport as well. CBP officers and agents seized roughly 46,000 pounds of khat nationwide during fiscal year 2025 and nearly 19,000 pounds in the first nine months of fiscal year 2026.

Days before the O'Hare arrests, CBP officers at BWI seized more than 1,250 pounds of khat in mid-August, including 846 pounds packed into 12 checked suitcases carried by two New York-bound travelers arriving from London, as Hoodline previously reported. On the same day as the second O'Hare seizure, Dulles officers intercepted 368 pounds of khat from passenger luggage, leading to an arrest by Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police, according to CBP.

Not every khat seizure travels by suitcase. Federal officers at Dulles also intercepted 139 pounds of Ethiopian khat hidden inside an air cargo shipment of mixed spices bound for Sacramento in June, the same Hoodline report noted, while the largest recorded U.S. khat bust remains a 2020 Seattle case in which authorities intercepted 10 tons falsely labeled as tea inside a shipping container from Kenya.

O'Hare's border teams have flagged other contraband schemes this year as well. In July, the airport's Anti-Terrorism Contraband Enforcement Team intercepted a master carton shipment from China containing more than 10,000 unapproved medication tablets and over 2,100 vials of steroids and human growth hormones destined for Syracuse, New York, according to Homeland Security Today. And O'Hare has a history of catching large baggage seizures tied to international connections — in July 2025, officers arrested two connecting travelers after finding 72 pounds of marijuana hashish packaged in t-shirts and vacuum-sealed bags ahead of a transfer flight to Brazil, Fox 32 Chicago reported at the time.