Two young Haredi women, ages 23 and 24, were arrested Friday at Krakow's international airport in Poland after customs authorities discovered 50 kilograms of khat hidden in their suitcases. The women had arrived on a direct flight from Israel.
Khat is classified as a controlled substance in Poland, and the country is considered one of the strictest in Europe when it comes to prosecuting smugglers. Upon discovery of the contraband, the women were immediately taken into custody.
The arrests are the latest in a troubling pattern: Israeli criminal networks have been recruiting young people, disproportionately from the Haredi community, to serve as couriers, offering a paid flight and approximately 5,000 shekels in exchange for transporting khat to European markets where demand is high. Recruiters reportedly reassure potential couriers that getting caught carries minimal consequences, promising that the worst outcome would be confiscation of the suitcase or a small fine covered by the network.
That promise, attorneys say, is a lie.
Attorney Mordechai Tzivin, who represents Israelis arrested in Europe for khat smuggling, said the belief that "at worst they will confiscate it and send me home" has completely collapsed. Polish authorities use the initial detention period as a deliberate shock tactic, sending suspects to detention facilities for weeks or months before any formal legal proceedings begin. Young Israelis caught in this trap find themselves cut off from their families, held in a foreign country under difficult conditions, and facing a harsh justice system.
Tzivin noted that in recent years, courts have tended to avoid lengthy prison sentences for young couriers recognized as victims of exploitation. In many cases, the final sentence overlaps with time already served in detention. Courts may also impose sentences of six to twelve months but convert them to suspended sentences, allowing Poland to register a criminal conviction without further burdening the prison system. Convicted individuals are typically deported to Israel and, in most cases, receive a multi-year ban from Poland and the entire Schengen Area.
The Krakow incident is not isolated. A similar arrest occurred in December at Prague's airport, where two Haredi women in their twenties were detained after 96 kilograms of khat, 48 kilograms per suitcase, were found during a routine luggage inspection. Investigators believe they were recruited by a known Israeli drug dealer under police surveillance. And approximately four months before that, two 19-year-old Haredi men were arrested in Germany after attempting to smuggle roughly 50 kilograms of khat in a rental car.
Jewish community leaders in Germany have raised the alarm over what they describe as an escalating and reputationally damaging phenomenon. "From time to time, young Haredi men are arrested with suitcases full of khat, and the punishment can be very harsh. Many times, Haredi youths end up spending very long periods in European prisons," community representatives warned.
