Nearly 450 Pounds of Magic Mushrooms, Firearms Seized in Southern California

Riverside County, California, sheriff's detectives said on Nov. 27, 2024, that they found psychedelic mushrooms, guns, and a bulletproof vest at a home in Lake Elsinore. Riverside County Sheriff's Office

A Southern California man was arrested this month after psychedelic mushrooms, marijuana, and firearms were found at his Lake Elsinore home, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said on Nov. 27.

Jesse Arroyo, 43, was arrested in November and booked into the Cois Byrd Detention Center on multiple felony drug-related offenses and felony weapons violations, according to the sheriff’s department.

“This is an ongoing investigation, and no further information will be released,” the department wrote in a statement on Wednesday.

According to the sheriff’s department, deputies from the Lake Elsinore Sheriff’s Station responded in August to a report of a suspicious package sent to a business.

Deputies processed the contents and forwarded the package to a special investigation team. The sheriff’s department did not say what was inside the package and didn’t respond to an information request by publication time.

Detectives with the team identified Arroyo as the suspect who allegedly shipped the package to the business and obtained a search warrant for his residence, according to the sheriff’s report.

Deputies say they searched Arroyo’s home and allegedly found a large-scale psilocybin mushroom, or psychedelic mushroom, cultivation operation.

“The property contained separate structures used for the cultivation, processing, and storage of large amounts of psilocybin mushrooms,” the department said in Wednesday’s statement.

Detectives seized about 445 pounds of vacuum-sealed psilocybin mushrooms and about 2,805 bags containing the mushrooms in various stages of growth.

The estimated street value for the mushrooms was $2.9 million, according to authorities.

They also seized two semi-automatic rifles—one of which did not have a serial number—a shotgun, four semi-automatic handguns, one semi-automatic handgun silencer, and two bullet-proof vests.

Anyone with information about the case was encouraged to call the Lake Elsinore Sheriff’s Station.

About 445 pounds of vacuum-sealed psilocybin mushrooms and 2,805 bags of mushrooms were seized at a Lake Elsinore, Calif., home, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said on Nov. 27, 2024. Riverside County Sheriff's Department

Nationally, law enforcement seizures of psilocybin mushrooms have risen dramatically between 2017 and 2022, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a division of the National Institutes of Health that aims to advance science on drug use and addiction.

The study published in February revealed the number of legal seizures increased from 402 in 2017 to 1,396 in 2022.

According to the study, the total weight of the magic mushrooms seized increased from nearly 500 pounds in 2017 to nearly 1,900 pounds in 2022.

The greatest amount of the illegal mushrooms, more than 4,100 pounds, were seized in the West between 2017 and 2022, the organization reported.