Khat plant contains scheduled drugs - expert

A court expert yesterday told a magistrate how, after analysing plants found in the luggage of a Somali man, he established that it was khat and contained two scheduled drugs.

Mario Mifsud told Magistrate Miriam Hayman that the luggage contained 11,812 grammes of khat plants and an analysis showed they contained the stimulant cathinone and cathine - both scheduled drugs by law.

He explained that cathinone could degrade into cathine, a milder drug, and this process was dependent on the way the drug was stored. In this case, the plants had been found wrapped in banana leaves which, Mr Mifsud explained, had the property to slow down the degradation of cathinone.

The court expert was testifying in the compilation of evidence against Khalid Id Ahmed, a 27-year-old Somali who has been granted refugee status and resides at the Marsa Open Centre. He is pleading not guilty to importing about 12 kilogrammes of khat, a new drug for Malta, and the possession of the drug in circumstances denoting it was not for his personal use.

The prosecution is claiming the accused left Malta for Amsterdam on July 19 and returned two days later when he was stopped by Customs officers and the police.

His luggage was allegedly found to contain several bundles of khat. Police Inspectors Pierre Grech and Dennis Theuma are prosecuting.

Lawyer Leo Bencini is representing Mr Ahmed.