Following the ban of importation of the mild, leafy drug known as Khat (a.k.a. Qat, Kat), Monday, captured vehicles huge consignment of the mild narcotic to the country.
Over two hundred kilos were burnt in Hargeisa and the cars transporting them impounded.
The National Police Commissioner, Brigadier-General Mohamed Sanqadhi Dubbad, the Vice Minister of Interior, Regional Governor and the Director-General of the Presidency.
Members of the National Preparedness Committee for COVID-19, on whose order the ban was enforced, also witnessed the burning of the contraband goods.
In Las Anod of Sool region, another consignment on a Toyota Landcruiser was caught and its cargo put to the torch in a public square to the applause of crowds watching the bonfire made of the coveted, expensive habit.
The operation which netted the captured goods was jointly undertaken by the regional police and army units, according to Colonel Mohamed Suleiman Goonni, the regional Police Commissioner.
The event was fully attended by both regional and district officials including the regional governor and Las Anod Mayor, the Hon. Abdi Aziz Hussein Tarwale.
The popular but costly drug, which took a heavy toll on Somaliland economy as well as munchers’ health, largely in the case of Somaliland came from neighbouring Ethiopia to the tune of about US$200 million a year according to Somaliland Ministry of Finance statements.
The ban went into effect Sunday, 26 April 2020.
