Police execute search warrant on magic mushroom store

Winnipeg police have shut down an Osborne Village store for selling illegal magic mushrooms.

The Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) held a media conference Friday outside of Magic Mush, a store in the 100 block of Osborne Street which began selling psilocybin mushrooms earlier this month.

Psilocybin is classified as a Schedule III substance under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Police executed a search warrant Friday afternoon, saying it will release more information about the suspects and charges in the coming days.

"Earlier today, a Controlled Drug and Substance Act search warrant was executed. The investigation is ongoing, and further details regarding arrests and items seized will be provided at a later date," said Constable Jason Michalyshen.

Inspector Elton Hall with the WPS organized crime division said police found out about the operation last week. "We were aware of it on the thirteenth, and we were maybe looking at a softer approach to this," Hall said. "Once the media attention happened and the lawyer was in the media commenting on it, my position changed and we took an enforcement approach."

Hall said the softer approach would have seen officers speak to the business owners, explain that what they were doing was illegal, and ask them to close the store.

However, after CTV News and other media reported on Magic Mush's operations, police decided to make the bust.

"This turned into a drug investigation - not just here - we may or may not be executing warrants elsewhere, and this may be an interprovincial drug investigation moving forward," Hall said.

The WPS investigation is serving multiple warrants across the city in connection to the case.

Hall said even though the packaging looks legitimate and the store says the product is safe, psilocybin mushrooms have not been approved for public consumption by Health Canada. 

"Do you know where the drugs came from?" asked Hall. "I don't, so how is that safe?"

He said there were multiple red flags pointing to the businesses' illegitimacy. "You have people coming in, being asked to go to an ATM and use cash … so there's no way to control the transactions," said Hall. "We have individuals who are taking money out of here and going to a new location and are bringing drugs back into here, so that’s a drug operation."

Police observed hundreds of transactions over the time they were watching the store. Two people have been arrested so far. Customers are not being prosecuted. Anyone who bought products at the store is advised to dispose of them.

Hall does not think the store's operators were surprised by the bust. "I think they were fully expecting we were going to shut this down," he said. "This is a challenge by their lawyer and they're going to challenge the criminal code I guess."

He said this is the first time someone has tried to open a magic mushroom shop in Winnipeg. "To my knowledge this is the first time we've done this with psilocybin, obviously we did this with marijuana before it was legalized back in the day."

Hall said these types of stores are not welcome in Winnipeg.

"You can't be selling these, this is drug trafficking, that’s all this is."

The store is run by an Ontario-based company that operates similar business in Ottawa and Toronto.