Over six tons of narcotic chewing leaves disguised as tea and herbal foot soak were seized last week at the Port of New York/Newark, according to officials.
Border Patrol says officers found the leaves known as Khat in two separate shipments from Kenya and South Africa on June 3 and June 7. The illegal stimulant harvested from a flowering shrub native to East Africa totaled 13,654 lbs, according to authorities.
The first shipment were found in a shipment of what supposed to be peppermint matcha tea leaves that were being sent to Minnesota. The second shipment was destined to Pennsylvania and was manifested as pieces of herbal foot soak.
The Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service was able to test samples of the substance and confirmed to Border Patrol that the leaves were indeed schedule 1 narcotics.
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The seized items have an estimated street value of $3.8 million, authorities said.
