Stephen Ellison

Berkeley Police Make $1 Million Drug Bust at Residence

Officers stumbled onto large-scale psychedelic mushrooms operation while responding to domestic disturbance

Police discovered a large-scale drug operation at a Berkeley home late Saturday night after responding to a domestic disturbance, according to the Berkeley Police Department.

At about 10 p.m., Berkeley police received a call regarding a domestic disturbance between boyfriend and girlfriend at a residence in the 1700 block of Alcatraz Avenue. When officers responded and made contact, the occupants initially refused to open the door, police said.

After a short time, the man and woman exited the house and were detained. Officers then entered the house to look for additional occupants and found a large-scale psychedelic mushroom processing operation, police said.

Officers found psilocybin mushrooms in various stages of cultivation as well as storage and distribution materials, police said.

Officers obtained a search warrant and seized 677 pounds of mushrooms with an estimated street value of more than $1 million, police said. They also recovered $3,000 in cash and additional evidence indicating a large-scale sales operation.

The 35-year-old man and 37-year-old woman, both Berkeley residents, were arrested and booked into the Alameda County Jail on narcotics related charges, police said.

The suspects' identities were not immediately released.

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