By Gina Yarbrough
Warner Springs, CA–Sheriff’s investigators Friday used a search warrant to arrest two adults on suspicion of operating a hash oil and psilocybin (mushroom) lab in Warner Springs, authorities said.
Felony charges will be filed with the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office against the two people who were arrested at the scene.
Detectives from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department’s Marijuana Enforcement Team, with the assistance of deputies from the Sheriff’s Fallbrook Crime Suppression Team, Valley Center CST, Vista Station’s Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving Unit, and Sheriff’s detectives from the San Diego Integrated Narcotics Task Force served the search warrant at 7 a.m. in the 2800 block of Highway 79.
Investigators said the warrant was part of an investigation by Sheriff’s detectives of a Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) Extraction Lab in the San Diego region. During the execution of the warrant, psilocybin (mushroom) lab was discovered on the property. Psilocybin labs have specific safety concerns due to the unique dangers they create with the potential for spore contamination. Also discovered on the property where vast quantities of hash oil and hazardous materials. It is not uncommon for investigators to find hazardous materials with large amounts of hash oil, which is indicative of a possible THC extraction lab. The hazardous materials may enter the local groundwater supply and streams, creating extreme environmental hazards.
Due to hazardous materials being located on the property, the San Diego County’s Hazmat Team and personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration were called to the location to seize the dangerous substances.
Detectives seized one loaded firearm, three tons of hash oil with a street value of $81.5 million, 460.5 pounds of processed marijuana, and 5.5 pounds of psilocybin with a street value of $6,600
Investigators believe the drugs found at the Warner Springs property were destined for unlicensed Southern California marijuana dispensaries.
