Pair arrested on I-80 face drug charges

3/17/2006

Two men arrested this week for allegedly possessing 170 pounds of khat, a plant used as a recreational drug in northeastern Africa and southern Arabia, were bound over to a Lucas County grand jury yesterday after a hearing in Maumee Municipal Court.

Hussein Ahmed Mohamed, 31, of Minneapolis, and Maxamed Abshar, 35, of Phoenix, are each charged with one count of possession of a drug of abuse, a first-degree felony with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. Each is being held in the Lucas County jail in lieu of a $100,000 bond.

The two men were stopped Monday on the Ohio Turnpike near Swanton. Troopers from the Ohio Highway Patrol found two duffel bags and two suitcases of khat, with an estimated street value of $385,900.

Mr. Mohamed also faces a traffic charge for following too closely and is set to appear in Maumee Municipal Court on May 5 on that charge.