Drive fast & chew khat: the deadly Ethiopan-Somalia smuggling route
On Ethiopia’s far east lies Ogaden state, bordering Somalia, inhabited by Somalians, flying Somali flags, but alas, residing with Ethiopia’s borders. Ethiopians remain unidentifiable as a single people, but rather the country is a stitch work of various tribes and ethnic groups that have battled with insecurity and instability, often spurred by separatist movements. Without running through Ogaden’s complex and at times chaotic history, the state has seen its share of upheaval, only exasperated by its proximity to Somalia. As can be seen in most regions lacking a strong state structure, organised crime finds deep footholds.
Several hours from Ogaden lies the ancient, walled city of Harar. The ‘Fez of Ethiopia’, Harar remains popular with tourists for it’s beautifully painted houses and famous ‘Hyena men’. Yet as one enters the region, also abundantly obvious is the mass production of khat, the leaf chewn across east Africa and southern Arabia, notorious for its stimulant effects. The hills surrounding Harar are laced with khat farms, while within the town itself tuk tuk drivers frantically zip through crowded streets, high on the stimulant legal and readily available from any street seller. Yet Harar’s drivers for hire are not the only consumers of khat, the stimulant remains fiercely popular in Somalia. Without delving into the insane financial burdens and demographic issues born by khat in Somalia, demand for the plant is very high to say the least. With Somalia’s parched landscape unable to produce enough khat for the regions appetite, the more fertile grounds surrounding Harar offers the product to the neighboring country’s insatiable market, at a hefty price.
Driving along the road running from Harar through to Jijiga, the last town before ‘proper’ Somaliland, it quickly becomes evident why the locals refer to the khat smuggling trucks as ‘al Qaeda’. The trucks are named so, not for being driven by literal terrorists (though the smuggling apparatus is the product of criminal groups operating in a region renown for pirates and terrorism), but rather for the immense danger they pose to others using this road. The trucks themselves are uniform and white, but most notably, travel at incredible speeds, passing by other vehicles in a blink and stopping for nothing. Locals told me “if the trucks hit someone, they stop on their way back”. They do not stop for police check points, military check points or even the bandits who roam the lawless streets of rural Ogaden towns at night with kalashnikovs. Instead, they toss out the window a bag of Khat, ready as payment for free movement.
On the 7 hour trip which sees high speeds, tight corners and rare usage of the brakes, it is little wonder that trucks regularly run off the road, and when they do, they are often found far from where they departed. So why run the risk? While Harar may be wealthier relative to other parts of Ethiopia given its hub for various trade routes, it still remains a very poor area. Thus, for these local men, the promise of $1000usd a trip (including their bonus if they make the trip within the designated time frame), running several trips a week for a year or two is life changing, to say the least.
Interestingly, on your way to or back from Ogaden, you will likely pass a graveyard of new and old vehicles, not far from Harar. Here lies the remnants of failed smuggling attempts, during which smugglers attempted to bring from Somalia to Ethiopia, any number of other products, potentially ranging from clothing to electronics. Such smuggling is common endeavour and is cracked down on hard at the Jijiga border. Yet, there they are, dozens of ‘al Qaeda’ trucks moving across the border without resistance, delivering Somalis their dose of fresh khat while pumping cash into the hands of government personnel and mafia networks alike in Ogaden’s lawless countryside.
