Four face charges over banned stimulant.

FOUR more people have been charged following an investigation into a network suspected of smuggling a banned stimulant drug from Britain to America, police said yesterday.

Lelah Ali, 45, Hersi Farah, 47, Sharrif Ali, 45, and Warsame Nur, 42 were held along with three others after officers raided homes in London, Coventry and Cardiff last week.

They were questioned as part of a police probe into the illegal exportation of khat to the US and Canada where it is a controlled substance.

The four suspects will appear in court today to face a conspiracy charge relating to the alleged mislabelling of parcels being sent from the UK.

On Saturday, Adrian Wall, 49, Liiban Nursharif, 30, and Daud Ali, 40, were taken before Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London, also accused of a conspiracy charge.

Married father-of-six Daud Ali, who runs a taxi firm, faces an additional count of possession of a fake Norwegian passport while Nur is accused of a further charge of false misrepresentation.

The three defendants spoke only to confirm their names, dates of birth and addresses.

They sat with arms folded during the hour-long hearing during which Ali and Nursharif were remanded in custody. Wall was granted bail subject to restrictions.

Lelah Ali, of Pitt Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey; Farah, of Willesden Lane, north west London; Sharrif Ali, of Pioneer House, Adelaide Street, Coventry; and Nur, of the same address, are expected to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court today. The suspects were arrested by detectives from Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism team during a planned, intelligence-led operation last week.

But a Met police spokesman said they had been released from Terrorism Act detention.

They are charged with offences contrary to the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979.

Wall, a married father of four of Pitt Road, Thornton Heath; Nursharif, a single man of no fixed abode and Ali, of Wakehurst Place, St Mellons, Cardiff, will next appear at Southwark Crown Court for a plea and case management hearing on July 6.