Raphael Vassallo
A 31-year-old Somali man faces a possible 25-year prison sentence for drug trafficking, after importing a plant which is not listed in the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, but which contains a scheduled chemical found in several medicinal products sold legally in local pharmacies.
His lawyer, Dr José Herrera, has therefore requested magistrate Audrey Demicoli to issue arrest warrants for the importers of these products, which include several of Malta’s major pharmaceutical companies.
Aweys Maani Khayre, originally from Somaliland but now a refugee residing in the United Kingdom, was arrested at the Malta International Airport on 10 May, after 14kg of a plant known as “Khat” were discovered in his luggage.
Khat is classed as a mild stimulant, but it is not listed under Chapter 31 of the Laws of Malta and importation of the plant is not in itself a crime. Its status is legal in the UK, and chewing Khat leaves is a culturally accepted practice in East Africa and the Arabian peninsula.
In his police statement, Aweys insisted that he had bought the plant legally from a shop in West London – “just opposite a police station” – and that he brought it to Malta to share with his cousins, and not to sell.
Nonetheless, Aweys has spent the last four months denied bail at the Corradino Correctional Facilities in Malta, and has now been charged with drug trafficking: a crime punishable by up to 25 years in jail.
Writing to MaltaToday in response to an article last Sunday (see page 24), the Attorney General Dr Silvio Camilleri has defended this arrest, arguing that Khat, while technically legal, contains substances which are scheduled at law.
“As for the plant Khat to which reference is made by Raphael Vassallo, this contains the chemicals cathinone and cathine... listed respectively in Part A and Part B of the Third Schedule of the Medical and Kindred Professions Ordinance.”
However, Dr Camilleri’s statement does not appear consonant with the known facts about either cathinone or cathine, which are actually derivatives of one another. Cathinone is the active stimulant ingredient of Khat; but once extracted, it disintegrates within 48 hours and becomes the less potent chemical cathine.
Cathine is also known by the name of its isomer “norpseudoephedrine”, and is contained in several anoretic (weight-loss) pills, as well as decongestant tablets for cold symptoms. Many of these drugs are available over the counter at any local pharmacy.
Furthermore, the Attorney General appears to contradict the testimony of court-appointed expert pharmacist Mario Mifsud, who on 28 May explained to the Court that neither cathine nor cathinone can be extracted from Khat merely by chewing the leaves of the plant, which is the way this substance is traditionally consumed. Instead, a chemistry laboratory would be required; and even then, the amount in the case of the 14kg imported by Aweys would be equivalent to 25 grammes.
“Not even an ant would get drugged on that amount,” a defiant Dr Herrera told MaltaToday. “Besides, scheduled substances like cathine are present in around 40 pharmaceutical products available in pharmacies all over Malta. If my client can be arrested for importing 25 grammes of cathine, then I fail to see why the same charges are not also brought against the importers of these drugs.”
Apart from legal diet pills containing norpseudoephedrine (cathine), there are several examples of legal plants, available for sale locally, which also contain scheduled chemical agents.
An example cited in court by Mr Mifsud is common sage (“salvja”, in Maltese): a herb found in most Mediterranean kitchens. Mifsud explained that the plant is not illegal but contains a scheduled chemical. Like cathine, this would likewise have to be extracted using expensive laboratory equipment.
“You have to have instrumentation and solvents and you have to buy these things,” Mifsud said in court.
In comments to MaltaToday, Aweys’ defence team argues that, using Dr Camilleri’s logic, importation and trafficking of sage should also be a criminal offence, as like Khat the plant contains a substance listed in the Third Schedule of the Medical and Kindred Professions Ordinance.
A comparison can also be made with marijuana, which is illegal in Malta. The difference here is that the marijuana plant (Cannabis sativa) is itself listed in the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance; as is its psychoactive agent, THC. However, the plant contains several other cannabinoids (chemical agents) which are not scheduled, and in fact are used in a wide variety of legal medicines.
Dr Herrera and his team argue that if the government of Malta wishes to make importation of Khat a crime, it should schedule the entire plant, as it did with marijuana.
“We are preparing for a Constitutional case over my clients’ arrest,” Dr Herrera said.

rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt