Two young Israeli women were arrested on Friday at Krakow airport in Poland on suspicion of smuggling 50 kg of khat in their suitcases. The pair, Orthodox women aged 23 and 24, had arrived on a flight from Israel. Khat is considered a drug in Poland.
The article says there is strong demand for khat in Europe, and that people in Israel sometimes recruit young travelers, usually from the ultra-Orthodox community, to carry it for a free ticket and 5,000 shekels. Recruits are allegedly told that if caught they will at worst receive a small fine or have the suitcase confiscated.
Poland is described as one of the toughest countries on khat smugglers. Once the luggage is seized, suspects are arrested and can spend weeks or months in detention before trial. Polish authorities use the detention as a punitive measure in itself, even before proceedings begin.
Attorney Mordechai Tsivin, who represents Israelis arrested in Europe for khat smuggling, said that in the past two years a relatively lenient sentencing pattern has emerged in many cases because courts recognize the suspects were exploited. In many cases, time already served in detention is treated as the punishment, and judges often impose prison terms of six months to a year but suspend them. After sentencing, suspects are usually released, deported back to Israel, and barred from entering Poland and, in most cases, the Schengen area for several years. Some also receive fines in addition to confiscation of the drugs.
Tsivin stressed that leniency is not automatic. Local lawyers must prove the suspect was “naive,” meaning he or she genuinely believed khat was legal or only a minor customs offense. If police find messages showing knowledge of the criminal offense, or evidence that the khat was concealed in a sophisticated way, courts may impose actual prison time. Tsivin said the old belief that offenders would only lose the luggage and go home has been shattered, and that the punishment now includes months of harsh detention, a criminal record and deportation from Europe.
