The arrests were part of an investigation into a network suspected of illegally exporting the stimulant khat, which is legal in the UK, to the US and Canada where it is a controlled substance, police said.

Adrian Wall, 49, Liiban Nursharif, 30, and Daud Ali, 40, were detained on Tuesday after officers investigating a network suspected of funding terrorism visited four addresses in London, Coventry and Cardiff.

They were held under the terrorism act and questioned by detectives before being jointly charged with conspiracy for allegedly mislabelling parcels which were being exported out of the UK.

Ali was also charged under the identity documents act for allegedly possessing a fake Norwegian passport.

The three men were among seven people arrested by the Met’s counter-terrorism command during the pre-planned, intelligence-led operation earlier this week.

They remaining four suspects, a woman aged 45 and three men aged 47, 45 and 42, continue to be held under the terrorism act, Scotland Yard said.

Homeland Security Investigations in America and officers from the UK’s counter terrorism network, the UK Border Agency and local forces were also involved in the operation.

Wall, of Pitt Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey; Nursharif, of no fixed abode and Ali, of Wakehurst Place, Cardiff, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later today.

PA

Source: independent.co.uk