CHICAGO (WCCO) – An Eagan man has been charged with violating the Illinois Controlled Substance Act by bringing almost 90 pounds of the stimulant plant khat into the United States from the United Kingdom.
The Chicago Tribune reports that customs agents at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport stopped 20-year-old Dominic Running with more than $12,000 worth of khat, a plant that’s chewed like tobacco and contains a stimulant similar to amphetamine.
Running told prosecutors he did not know it was illegal and admitted to buying it the UK for the equivalent of almost $300.
The UK decriminalized the plant within the last two months
A Cook County judge set Running’s bail at $20,000.
