Joint operation of the Tax Agency and the National Police

• Investigators raided a house in Sant Pol de Mar (Barcelona) when the arrested people were beginning a ceremony in front of 23 people where they were going to supply different prohibited psychoactive substances that were dangerous to the health of the attendees.
• Various substances (ayahuasca, bufo toad, kambó frog or mescaline) were seized during the search, instruments for consumption, weighing scales, 4,000 euros in cash and 2,000 US dollars.
• In addition, a postal shipment sent by one of the detainees was intercepted and contained almost a kilo of mescaline, an internationally controlled narcotic.
• Investigators place those arrested in the so-called 'new age sects', characterized by the consumption of this type of substances.

April 2, 2023.- Customs Surveillance officers from the Tax Agency and agents from the National Police, in a joint operation, have arrested two people in the municipality of Sant Pol de Mar (Barcelona) for their alleged participation in the crimes of belonging to a criminal group, smuggling, drug trafficking and professional intrusion, as well as for violating the Immigration Law. Investigators broke into the house as a ritual was being initiated before 23 people where prohibited and dangerous psychoactive substances were supplied to them.

The operation, coordinated by the General Information Commission, was carried out by the Regional Operational Areas of Customs Surveillance of Madrid and Barcelona and the Provincial Information Brigade of Barcelona, under the direction of the Court of First Instance and Instruction Number One of Arenys de Mar (Barcelona).

This intervention also had the collaboration of the State Inspection Agency for Labour and Social Security together with the Provincial Brigade of Immigration and Borders of Barcelona, having detected the presence of foreign citizens in an irregular situation who were carrying out different tasks, such as cooking, maintenance, administration or advertising, without a legal contract or registration with Social Security.

23 attendees at the ritual

The aim of the investigation was to dismantle a group allegedly engaged in smuggling substances that cause serious damage to health, supplied through organised meetings at low prices. The investigators intervened just as a celebration was about to begin in which these psychoactive substances were to be supplied. Under the influence of these substances, participants become more vulnerable and manipulable, which makes it easier for them to be recruited and joined by the group.

At the time of the search, 23 people were found inside the house who were going to participate in the ceremony that was interrupted, and a total of fifty beds were counted to accommodate the attendees who were participating in the group's activities.

The group promoted itself through social networks and websites, offering to supply psychoactive substances such as ayahuasca, bufo toad, kambo frog and others. During the search carried out during the police operation, 4,000 euros and 2,000 US dollars in cash, different quantities of ayahuasca, bufo toad and kambo frog and even mescaline, multiple instruments for the consumption of these substances and weighing scales were seized. In addition, a postal shipment that one of the detainees had just sent containing almost a kilo of mescaline, an internationally controlled narcotic, was intercepted.

According to researchers, these types of substances are commonly used in ceremonies practiced by so-called 'new age sects', specifically in neo-shamanic rituals.