Customs officers seized $50,000 worth of khat — a Schedule I stimulant shrub chewed for its amphetamine-like high — at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, proof that foreign drug habits are being imported straight into American communities while the federal government trains its sights on domestic dissidents.
Khat, grown in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, contains cathinone, a Schedule I stimulant with no accepted medical use, and cathine, a Schedule IV drug. The DEA classifies it as a drug of abuse that can induce "manic behavior," grandiose delusions, paranoia, hallucinations, and — with chronic use — violent behavior and suicidal depression. CBS News framed the seizure as a curiosity, noting that khat's use abroad is "associated with established cultural traditions in many social situations." That's the soft way of saying Americans are now absorbing the drug problems of foreign nations through lax visa enforcement and a porous border.
Meanwhile, at the southern border, the trafficking runs in every direction. Federal prosecutors say 66-year-old Georgina Bribiesca Chavez, a Tijuana resident, was arrested Aug. 10 at the San Ysidro Port of Entry with 69 live animals — including venomous yellow-blotched palm pit vipers, three caimans, a baby crocodile, and 60 abronia lizards — stuffed into taped-shut pillowcases inside a hidden compartment of her Volkswagen. She allegedly told CBP she had nothing to declare. A records check revealed an outstanding warrant tied to a wildlife trafficking investigation. Three caimans died after being left in the vehicle for nearly 24 hours in August heat.
According to the Justice Department, Chavez and her alleged partner Salvador Pelayo, 28, of Chula Vista, had trafficked wildlife together since 2023 and made tens of thousands of dollars selling exotic animals. The operation took 18 months of undercover work by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to bust — meaning two people ran a cross-border smuggling enterprise for years before anyone was stopped. Pelayo allegedly shipped protected Mexican and Yucatan box turtles to an undercover agent in New York; four turtles delivered by Chavez in a March 2025 transaction later died.
Both have pleaded not guilty to Lacey Act trafficking charges carrying up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Here is the picture the establishment press won't assemble: khat flows through airports, venomous snakes and protected species cross at ports of entry, and the same federal apparatus that lets these imports slide has plenty of energy for investigating and surveilling American citizens who step outside approved opinion. CBP caught the khat. They caught the animals — eventually. What else is moving through?
