While remaining at low levels in recent years, seizures of plant-based NPS are increasingly dominated by kratom, followed by khat.

• In contrast to the upward trend in seizures of synthetic NPS, seizures of plants-based drugs fluctuated while remaining at low levels over the 2021-2024 period. Overall seizures of plant-based NPS between 2020 and 2024 were some 60 per cent lower than between 2015 and 2019, with the number of countries reporting seizures of plant-based NPS falling from, on average, 54 (2015-2019) to 28 (2020-2024). In contrast, 86 countries reported seizures of synthetic NPS between 2020 and 2024.
• The market has shifted from khat to kratom: with kratom making up 56 per cent of seizures between 2020 and 2024, while khat’s share has steadily declined to 44 per cent. Other plant-based NPS, such as hallucinogenic mushrooms, ayahuasca or salvia divinorum have been also seized over the years, but their overall share of global plant-based NPS seizures remains very limited.
• In terms of geographical spread, trafficking in khat is far more widespread than trafficking in kratom. Seizures of khat were reported by 36 countries between 2020 and 2024, while seizures of kratom were reported by 11 countries.
• Most countries reporting seizures of khat were located in Europe and Africa (17 and 16, respectively) while most countries reporting seizures of kratom were in Asia (5) and Europe (5) between 2020 and 2024.