Two Israelis, one a 17-year-old minor, are arrested in a Berlin airport after “commercial” amounts of the drug qat are found in their luggage.
The leaves of the qat plant include a stimulant that induces a mild high. The plant is legal in large parts of the Middle East, but is illegal in many Western nations.
After the arrests, the Foreign Ministry says Monday young Israelis should be wary of anyone asking them to transport the leaves of the plant to Western nations.
Transporting qat is a crime, the ministry says, and those doing so “are running the risk of prison terms and high fines, according to local laws.”
While offering no further details, the ministry statement says the two Israelis’ “naivete and vulnerability were exploited” by another party.
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From the Liveblog of
Monday, March 11, 2019
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