Yemeni culture

Law enforcement officials seized more than 34 kilograms of khat, a traditional African herbal stimulant, in Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport on Jan. 2.

Deliveries with a total weight of 28 kg containing qat, a psychoactive plant, have been confiscated by Bulgarian customs officers, the customs agency has said.

The entire quantity, worth around BGN 0.9 M (EUR 0.45 M), was confiscated at Sofia airport. Its final destinations were Belgium and the Netherlands.

Cocaine hidden in bottles of wine, deodorant flasks and mobile phone chargers were discovered during customs checks at Bulgaria's borders last year, Dnevnik daily reported on Tuesday.

Smuggling dried leaves of the khat plant has been registered as a new trend, Dnevnik said citing the National Customs Agency report for 2015.

A 63-year-old retired schoolteacher was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of illegally importing large quantities of the contraband stimulant khat from Africa and selling it in the United States, all via the postal service.