Police responding to a domestic violence report unearthed a huge haul of psychedelic mushrooms in South Berkeley over the weekend, police report. The mushrooms have an estimated street value of more than $1 million, authorities said. The discovery happened Saturday at about 10 p.m., police said in a statement Monday.
Officers were called to the 1700 block of Alcatraz Avenue, near King Street, for a domestic disturbance between a boyfriend and girlfriend. Officers spoke with the couple “who initially refused to open the door.”
When the pair eventually came outside, police detained them, then went into the home to “look for additional victims, suspects or occupants,” authorities said. “They discovered a large scale psychedelic mushroom processing operation. In plain view were psilocybin mushrooms in various stages of cultivation as well as storage and distribution materials.”
Officers got a search warrant and ultimately seized 677 pounds of mushrooms, more than $3,000 in cash and other evidence “which indicated a large scale and scope of the sales operations,” police said. A 35-year-old man and 37-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of narcotics-related crimes. Their names were not released, due to privacy reasons, because the incident began as a domestic violence call, police said.
No further information was available about the case or the people arrested due to technical problems with BPD data online.
