NES: Customs officials in Norway have seized 392 kilograms of banned drug khat, the second largest bust ever in Norway. Officers stopped and searched a Swedish rental van in Nes at night, and discovered 64 banana boxes packed with the plant.
The driver, a 43-year-old Portuguese man who lives in the United Kingdom was arrestedwith a Swedish van. Earlier this week it was revealed that crates of bananas had also been used to smuggle 145 kilograms of cocaine into Norway.
Khat is a chewing plant containing an amphetamine-like stimulant, and can trigger hallucinations. The seizure was second only to a bust shortly after Christmas, where Customs officers in another incident seized 520 kilograms of khat, also in a Swedish registered van.
Last year Norwegian customs intercepted 12 tons of khat, a four ton increase on 2012.
