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Inside
Out exposes Kent 'mules' scam
Monday's
Inside Out (³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ ONE South East, 13 October) investigates the extraordinary
story of the people of Deal in Kent being targeted as 'mules' to
smuggle a drug, which is legal in the UK, into the United States,
where it is not.
The
drug, Khat, is a Class 1 narcotic in the US with a maximum penalty
of life imprisonment.
This
spring, US enforcement officers were surprised to find 12 young,
white males - all from Deal - locked up in New York's notorious
Rikers Island jail.
One
of them, 17-year-old David McGahan, was targeted in a pub and offered
£500 to take a couple of suitcases over to America.
His
parents thought he was at a party in Dover when they got the call.
His
mother, Majorie, recalls: "We had no idea he had left the country
even. He said 'Mum, I'm really sorry. I didn't realise I'd get myself
into so much trouble.' He was in tears."
Now
turned 18, David McGahan has put the incident behind him and has
promised his parents never to do anything like this again.
Khat
is a shrub that grows in the Yemen and Ethiopia and is chewed by
users. It is popular in those communities in the UK. Users claim
the drug lifts spirits, sharpens thinking and increases energy.
The
effects aren't as potent as cocaine or uppers, but are similar.
However long term use can cause heart attacks and high blood pressure.
Legal
in Britain, it can be bought in certain greengrocers and markets
for about £5 a bunch – but it can command high sums
of money in America.
Banned
in most countries, including mainland Europe, it is legally imported
into the UK where the smugglers dupe people in to acting as couriers.
State
Defence Attorney, Elizabeth Pruser, has defended most of the cases
and was surprised at the Deal connection - a place of which she
had never previously heard.
She
says: "These kids are being used. It's the kids being prosecuted,
not the big guys."
Special
Agent Thomas Maniface tells the programme: "We are looking
at the funding, the money, where's it going? It could be that it's
being used to fund terrorism because it's being sent back to countries
that support terrorism like Yemen and others."
During
the programme, under the close supervision of leading Khat expert,
Dr Iain Murray-Lyon, presenter Paul Ross tries Khat himself. Grimacing
as he chews, after about an hour he describes the effects:
"I
feel trembly and a bit hyper, like I've had too much coffee, and
a bit hot."
Inside
Out, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ ONE South East, Monday 13 October, 7.30pm
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