Spanish police arrested a couple and accused them of performing a ritual-known online as “international ancestral medicine”-involving a range of prohibited substances, from toad venom to ayahuasca.
The 42-year-old and 38-year-old couple allegedly ran an association that held ceremonies involving psychotropic substances at a price of up to 150 euros (129 pounds) per session. Weekend retreats are also available, which can cost up to 350 Euros (300 GBP).
The police said they analyzed the video of the ceremony posted online by the couple. “Customers were observed to consume or inhale the psychotropic drugs he gave them in liquid form [the master of the ceremonies] And she obstructed their breathing in order to keep the smoke in their bodies for longer,” Guardia Civil said in a statement. “Due to this practice, visitors often convulsed and fell to the ground and experienced severe changes in consciousness. “
Video released by the police It seems that the couple gave a man medication and supported him when he fell quickly to the ground. When the man was lying on the floor, the couple knelt on top of him-when she beat the tambourine, he played maracas.
During the raid, the couple found 97 substances at their home and the headquarters of the association near Alicante, which were used to convene the United Nations in 1971. Psychotropic Substances Convention, The police said.
Sample from Big toad Police said the toad was found in the safe in the master bedroom.Also known as the Sonoran Desert Toad, the secretions of this amphibian contain a psychedelic substance called 5-MeO-DMT, which medical researchers have discovered Research as a possible treatment for depression and anxiety.
Its ritual use suddenly appeared after last year Spanish police arrested three people, Including a famous pornographic actor related to the death of a photographer who is believed to have died after inhaling toad venom during a shaman ritual.
The police said on Saturday that they also found this mushroom Amanita muscaria, which one Transform into a powerful hallucinogen After drying, and Ibogain, a medicine that grows in the tropical rain forest of Gabon, Linked Slows the heart rate to a dangerously low level and interacts with the electrical signals of the organ.
The police added that the couple “do not have any professional qualifications or training” to allow them to provide people with psychoactive or hallucinogenic substances. Both were accused of violating public health laws.
