Conn. Man Allegedly Ran $8.5 Million Mushroom Factory Out of Home: Police
Weston Soule, 21, is charged with possession with intent to sell/ distribute narcotics and operation of a drug factory
Connecticut State Police (2)
L: Bagged mushrooms outside the Connecticut residence; R: Weston SoulePolice shut down an alleged psilocybin mushroom factory with $8.5 million worth of psychedelic mushrooms inside a Connecticut man’s home Thursday, according to WTNH, WFSB and WKRN.
Investigators lined up hundreds of white baggied mushrooms in several quadrants along the front yard of the Burlington, Conn., home, according to photographs provided to PEOPLE by the Connecticut State Police.
The bust came from a tip to The Drug Enforcement Administration Hartford Task Force Thursday morning, per WTNH and WFSB.
At the home-turned-alleged-drug-factory, Weston Soule, 21, initially denied that the mushrooms he was growing there were illegal, police said, per the outlets.
Connecticut State Police
Investigators recovered from the home mushrooms with an estimated street value of $8.5 millionWhen police asked if they could search the home — which had ventilation equipment resembling that used in other drug factories visible from the outside — Soule allegedly turned the detectives away.
Police returned later that day with a search warrant, uncovering the alleged factory teeming with mushrooms at various growth stages that investigators estimated had a street value of $8.5 million.
Connecticut State Police
Some of the mushrooms investigators uncovered Thursday.That’s when police allege Soule conceded that the mushrooms were in fact psilocybin — considered a Schedule 1 controlled substance, which is not permitted for medical use and can easily be abused, WFSB reported.
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Connecticut State Police
The Connecticut home was outfitted with ventilation equipment resembling that used in other drug factoriesConnecticut State Police processed and charged Soule later that day with possession with intent to sell/ distribute narcotics and operation of a drug factory, according to WTNH and WFSB.
Soule, who was held on a $250,000 cash/ surety bond was scheduled for arraignment at New Britain Superior Court Friday, per the outlets. It was not immediately clear how he pleaded or who represented him.
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