EPPING, N.H. — When New Hampshire State Trooper Bob Larcome pulled over Mohmed Ahmed early Sunday morning for backing up illegally on Interstate 95 southbound in Hampton, he found a plant in the car he'd never encountered.

Larcome didn't recognize it immediately, said State Police Troop A Commander Scott Carr, but Larcome and fellow Trooper Gary Ingham soon realized it was an illegal drug called khat — pronounced "cot" — an amphetamine or stimulant commonly used in Africa that's imported into the United States illegally.

"Fortunately Trooper Larcome was on the ball," Carr said. "He knew he had something there; he just didn't know what it was. Trooper Ingham had the DEA (drug) handbook with him, and they used it to identify the drug."

Ahmed, 40, of 140 Walnut Ave, Apt. 21, Roxbury, Mass., was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled/narcotic drug with intent to distribute.

He was able to raise the $5,000 cash bail set after his arrest pretty quickly. "He had his buddy come up with the $5,000 that morning," Carr said. "He's due to be arraigned on April 4 at Hampton District Court in Seabrook."

But the incident wasn't over for the State Police, Carr said. Because of the unusual nature of the arrest and the drug, they felt they had a duty to bring the finding to region-wide attention.

"This is the first time we've seen this drug here," Carr said. "And it was the first time khat was signed into the State Police Forensic Lab. Police rarely make an arrest on a new drug the very first time it comes into an area. The fact that we're just seeing it now means it's been here for a while."

Carr said the federal Drug Enforcement Agency classifies khat as both a Class I and IV drug. Class I drugs have a high potential for abuse and addiction and no medical use, like heroin. Class IV drugs have a low potential for abuse, like Valium or "diet drugs," but they may lead to physical or psychological dependency.

"This drug when it's first picked is considered a Class I drug by the DEA," Carr said. "But within a few days it loses its potency. When it's still fresh, the plant is chewed — like rhubarb or sugar cane. When it ages, it's often dried, ground up and used to brew a tea people drink."

Used as a common stimulant is some parts of Africa — like Somalia — as well as on the Arabian Peninsula, khat did not find a warm welcome upon reaching the United States.

Searching for more information, state police found a July 2006 press release distributed by the U.S. attorney for southern New York, the DEA and the FBI. The notice announced the takedown of an international drug trafficking ring responsible for smuggling in more than 25 tons of khat from Africa.

In the 2006 release, authorities estimated 25 tons of khat smuggled from the Horn of Africa was worth more than $10 million on the street. At the time, it was the largest khat trafficking prosecution in this country's history.

According to the New York press release: "The primary effects of the chewing of khat are euphoria and stimulation, and side effects include anorexia, heart disease, hypertension, cancer of the mouth ... gastric disorders, hallucination, hyperactivity, impotence, insomnia and irrational violence... "

While investigating the case, it was learned that khat was brought to the United States by arranging shipments from Africa carried to London and New York by human couriers on commercial airlines or sending packages of the drug to countries in Western Europe, then to New York using commercial mail services.

Members of the ring would then retrieve the khat in New York and send it via land to a number of states, including Maine and Massachusetts, where it was sold on the streets, according to the 2006 newsrelease.

"The more research we did on khat, the more we found out about this new drug and those involved with it," Carr said.

According to Essex County district attorney spokeswoman Karen Dawley, khat has not been in the mix of the illegal drug-related arrests in the county in recent years. However, about eight years ago there was a khat arrest made when members of the Essex County Drug Task Force joined with the mail service, she said. In that case, the khat was being smuggled into the country via the mail from Somalia, she said.