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Goa Police busts ‘magic mushrooms’ unit in Arambol, narcotics worth ₹1.7 cr seized
The police arrested a Russian national and seized 218gm of psilocybin mushrooms, 7.9kg of mushroom buds, 2kg of marijuana and 150 psilocybin mushroom spores (seeds)
The anti-narcotics cell of Goa Police busted a ‘magic mushroom’ cultivation unit run from a rented room in Arambol, a coastal village in north Goa, and arrested a Russian national after recovering 218gm of psilocybin mushrooms, 7.9kg of mushroom buds, 2kg of marijuana and 150 psilocybin mushroom spores (seeds), all worth ₹1.70 crore in the international market.
The arrested Russian national was identified as 33-year-old Evgeny Morkovin.
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug compound that is produced by over 200 species of fungi.
The raid follows the arrest of an Israeli national named Naar Yaakov last week for allegedly peddling in ‘magic mushrooms’.
“The ANC staff raided the rented premises of the accused at Arambol. During the search, the police seized a commercial quantity of psilocybin mushrooms worth ₹8.72 lakh and 2kg of ganja worth ₹2 lakh. It was during the raid that the ANC discovered that the said Russian national was not only selling the banned narcotics but had also planted psilocybin mushroom buds in numerous glass jars for growing the contraband that weighed about 7.93kg worth ₹1.58 crore,” superintendent of police (ANC) Bossuet Silva said.
The police also seized mushroom spores which the accused procured to plant and grow more of the contraband. Besides, the police have also seized equipment such as syringes, glass jars, specially fabricated plastic containers and other articles which the accused used to cultivate the psychedelic mushrooms.
Silva said that there is growing interest in psilocybin, the psychoactive component, banned under the NDPS Act, especially among youngsters, for the psychedelic mushrooms known colloquially as ‘magic mushrooms’, or ‘shrooms’, for its ability to cause altered thinking and hallucinations.
