CALGARY - A bundle of roses by any other name would smell as sweet - except when its hiding a shipment of drugs.

Canadian Border Services Agency officers managed to sniff out 73 kilogram of khat hidden in a shipment of roses shipped from Kenya. It is the second largest bust of the drug this year in Alberta.

An air cargo package labelled as fresh flowers arrived from Kenya on Aug. 31 and when officers searched it, they found 402 bundles of khat - a leafy substance grown in east Africa that gives its users a cocaine or amphetamine-like effect.

"It's an addictive drug and it's smoked or put into tea or food," said Canadian Border Services Agency spokeswoman Lisa White.

The drugs were wrapped in banana leaves and placed with the roses.

"The concealment method was interesting," said White.

"It goes to show that our officers are always on the lookout for this type of drug and it goes to show our priority is to make sure our borders aren't used for illegal activity."

White wouldn't say whether officials were tipped off about the illegal shipment or if a regular search led them to it.

"I won't get into specifics because it's an ongoing investigation but our officers are on the lookout for anomalies," she said.

"We'll look at various factors, where is the package coming from, what is the package declared as, what's the value, what's the weight, just a bunch of general things that when you piece together and combine with other information and less obvious factors, that warrants further examination."

This was the 19th seizure of khat in Alberta this year.

No arrests have been made and White said the investigation is continuing.