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Date Published: 11/01/2023

ARCHIVED - British couple arrested in Murcia, Spain for giving ayahuasca to retreat participants

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The two UK nationals were detained in Yecla for conducting spiritual retreats using illegal hallucinogens

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - British couple arrested in Murcia, Spain for giving ayahuasca to retreat participants

Two British citizens, aged 47 and 52, have been arrested in the Spanish town of Yecla in the north of the Murcia Region after they were found to be using illegal hallucinogenic drugs in healing rituals at spiritual retreats in their country house.

These “shamanic rituals”, as they have been dubbed by Spain’s Guardia Civil police, were conducted by the British couple in events that they advertised online for their “healing house oriented to self-development groups, shamanic retreats and addiction recovery and detoxification”.

In an operation codenamed ‘Kambo’, the Guardia Civil dismantled the retreat setup and arrested the two Brits running it. They also seized “a multitude of substances harmful to health” such as ayahuasca, snuff, sananga, San Pedro extract and hallucinogenic mushrooms, which they say the pair were supplying to both Spanish clients “and those from other European countries”.

The British detainees apparently did not have any type of licence or administrative authorisation to carry out these substance-based treatments in their establishment, but proceeded to offer them at a daily cost per person of 45 euros for a minimum stay of three nights, and even group offers of 500 euros per day for 16 guests.

When police searched the Yecla residence, they found that an ayahuasca retreat was being held with seven people of various nationalities at that very moment, and they burst in on the “shamans” directing the ritual to ingest hallucinogenic substances.

This was taking place in a room of the house that was set up with seven beds and two armchairs, as <span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - British couple arrested in Murcia, Spain for giving ayahuasca to retreat participants

well as blood pressure monitors that were used to check the physical state of participants while they were intoxicated.

Ayahuasca is an indigenous drink used in traditional South American medicine by native peoples which, due to its psychoactive components, generates hallucinogenic effects. In their search of the property, 14 litres of ayahuasca were seized, as well as a bottle of sananga, an Amazonian eye drop used to treat eye ailments and which is also used in certain ceremonies to increase spiritual perception.

Also seized were three kilos of marijuana, three kilos of snuff, 29 bottles of pipettes with marijuana extract, 44 lollipops and sweets with San Pedro extract, 304 San Pedro cacti and 200 grams of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

The Guardia Civil’s investigation has determined that the supposed spiritual guides provided the substances without health controls, producing a series of physical effects in the participants: from sweating, dizziness, nausea and muscular contractions that could last between eight and twelve hours, to more severe heart complications.

The name of the operation came from the fact that, in previous advertisements on their website, the British couple had offered kambó ceremonies. This substance, obtained from the skin secretion of an Amazonian frog and with a high content of natural opiates, is 40 times more potent than morphine and can cause a serious health risk. This kambo activity was offered by the shaman couple at an increase of the initial subscription cost of 100 euros per person.

Also present at the search and arrest procedure were agents from the Guardia Civil’s Nature Protection Service, who reported that on the grounds of the property, the wings of several goldfinches, which are a protected species, were found dissected on wooden planks, supposedly used for the ornamentation of some of the tools and implements.

As such, the Brits have been charged with the crimes of professional intrusion against public health and against flora, fauna and domestic animals.

Images: Guardia Civil

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