This is Shagmahr prison, not Stalag 17.

The Smuggling Story:

I live in Holloway in North London, it’s certainly not a wealthy area of London but it makes up for that in a that the compensation, I would say, is that there is more of a sense of community.

I’ve lived in one wealthy area of London and no one knew anyone. Everyone kept themselves to themselves ensconced in there self made ivory towers. An Englishman’s home is his castle and all that.

Anyway, Holloway has a community rich in cultural diversity and ethnicity. Around my area there are also communities within the community with their own private drinking/coffee/gambling/meetings places like the Red Sea Club which closed down recently.

Nearby is a shop and internet café where the owner is from Somaliland, apparently a beautiful country. We get on well and when I get back late night from a gig I’ll pop in and say hi. They have a community room at the back of the shop where other Somali friends meet up, smoke, talk drink etc…The main thing they do though is Chew!

Chew, you read it right. They chew a plant called Khat which is legal in the UK but illegal in the USA and several parts of Europe.

WHAT IS KHAT?


Khat(pronounced "cot") is a natural stimulant from the Catha Edulis plant, found in the flowering evergreen tree or large shrub which grows in East Africa and Southern Arabia. It reaches heights from 10 feet to 20 feet and its scrawny leaves resemble withered basil.

Fresh Khat leaves are crimson-brown and glossy but become yellow- green and leathery as they age. They also emit a strong smell. The most favored part of the leaves are the young shoots near the top of the plant. However, leaves and stems at the middle and lower sections are also used.

Khat leaves contain psychoactive ingrediants known as cathinone, which is structurally and chemically similar to d-amphetamine, and cathine, a milder form of cathinone. Other names by which Khat is known include: Qat, Kat, Chat, Kus-es-Salahin, Mirra, Tohai, Tschat, Catha, Quat, Abyssinian Tea, African Tea, and African Salad.

EFFECTS OF KHAT AND MODE OF INGESTION

Fresh Khat leaves, which are typically chewed like tobacco, produce a mild cocaine- or amphetamine-like euphoria that is much less potent than either substance with no reports of a rush sensation or paranoia indicated.

By filling the mouth to capacity with fresh leaves the user then chews intermittenly to release the active components. Chewing Khat leaves produces a strong aroma and generates intense thirst. Casual users claim Khat lifts spirits, sharpens thinking, and, when its effects wear off, generates mild lapses of depression similar to those observed among cocaine users.

Since there appears to be an absence of physical tolerance, due in part to limitations in how much can be ingested by chewing, there are no reports of physical symptons accompanying withdrawal. Advocates of Khat use claim that it eases symptoms of diabetes, asthma, and stomach/intestinal tract disorders, Opponents claim that Khat damages health, suppresses appetite, and prevents sleep.

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Hornet/qat.html


So it’s quite a funny atmosphere coming back late at night and these guys are outside chatting at a 100 miles an hour, smioking and chewing the khat and chewing the fat so to speak.

Anyway I was talking to Lucien, (Names have been changed, I don’t expect theres many Luciens in Somaliland which is where he is from) and we were talking about travelling we’d both done. He filled me in on Somaliland which is its own country separate to Somalia.

A couple of days later I’m having a chat to some locals and Lucien shouts over to me, “My friend….my friend who likes travel, you like travelling right?...Ever been to USA?”

Don’t ask me how I knew but I sniffed something was on the horizon straight away, he started to go into his preamble and I told him, “Lucien, mate….I know what your gonna ask…”

He started laughing…I knew he wanted me to smuggle Khat to the US. It’s illegal there and is considered a class 1 narcotic on a par with Heroin and Cocaine. The minimum you would get would be a 2000 doller fine but you would be lucky to get that. Jail time is 5 years to life.

“You have a 95 percent chance of being OK.” He said,

“Yeah , but I have a 5 percent chance of being locked up and made someones ‘bitch’.”

“If you go four times you will be a very rich man.”

“Hang on I haven’t said I was going once and now you’ve got me going four times, calm down fella.”

“It’s very easy…..”

“So why don’t you go, save yourself the money you wanted to pay me and buy yourself something nice.”

He laughed again and explained how he was likely to get stopped going through customs but how I was highly likely to make it through no problems being just a young looking (I liked that, a compliment – still he was trying to get me to smuggle drugs, I reckon that’s negated the compliment. Damn) white guy.

I should just point out that since Christmas 6 young looking, unemployed white guys have been caught so far trying to smuggle Khat into the USA. I’ve done my research.

"You will be there 3 days, you will be met, you give them khat, they give you your money, everybody happy."

He carried on trying to convince as I explained how I’m not good at breaking rocks, how chains don’t look good on me and how I really don’t plan on ever putting myself in a situation where I could be raped by a bloke in the showers.

It’s just not my idea of a holiday. All the blood sweat and tears…and for what?

So needless to say I declined Luciens offer. Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t say no to a windfall of extra cash but at what price? Maybe if he’d offered me a million?
What would your price be?

Let me know…..It’ll get Lucien off my back. Lol

Another smuggling story to come soon…….