Bend couple arrested on drug charges; raids on home, warehouse find psilocybin, marijuana grow

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Drug agents arrested a northeast Bend couple and conducted a pair of raids Wednesday on their home and large commercial warehouse in the Spring River area of south Deschutes County, seizing illegal psilocybin mushroom and marijuana grows.

Detectives with the Deschutes County Marijuana Enforcement Team and the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team conducted the raids, assisted by the sheriff’s office SWAT team, as they concluded a month-long investigation involving a 35-year-old woman and 40-year-old man by executing two search warrants Wednesday morning.

One search warrant was served at the couple’s rental home in the 900 block of Northeast Dekalb Avenue and the other a commercial outbuilding on property owned by the man in the 17000 block of Fontana Road in Spring River, Sgt. Kent Vander Kamp said.

He said the couple were contacted as they left the home around 9 a.m. and the two raids were conducted simultaneously.

During the search of the home, detectives found an active psilocybin grow chamber in the children’s play area and toy storage area, the sergeant said.

Psychedelic psilocybin, approved for limited therapeutic use by voters last fall, remains a Schedule 1 controlled substance, Vander Kamp said.

“Indoor mushroom growing can produce airborne mold, fungus and spores attached to clothing and food,” the sergeant wrote. “It is common knowledge that prolonged exposure to mold and fungus can cause numerous medical conditions, especially in children.”

Commercial quantities of processed psilocybin also were found in the home, along with other related manufacturing paraphernalia, a pistol and a large sum of cash.

The detectives searched a commercial outbuilding that Vander Kamp said was built and designed to grow and process marijuana. They found an active grow operation and felony amounts of processed marijuana, as well as a large quantity of cannabis extracts and seven firearms.

The woman was lodged in the county jail on charges of possessing commercial quantities of psilocybin, manufacture of a Schedule 1 controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school and endangering the welfare of a minor. Oregon DHS Child Welfare workers assisted at the scene to care for the children, Vander Kamp said.

The man was cited and released at the scene on charges of possessing felony amounts of processed marijuana, possession of unlawful cannabis extracts and unlawful manufacture of marijuana.