Police Confiscate Nearly $2 Million Worth Of Psychedelic Mushrooms In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police arrested three men and confiscated more than 250 pounds of psychedelic mushrooms in a raid in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn this week.
Vitali Yaromin, 50, of Brooklyn; Nikita Medvedev, 26, of Staten Island; and Maksym Lyushnenko, 47, of Brooklyn, were charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminally using drug paraphernalia, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. They face 10 years in prison on the top count in conviction.
DA detective investigators and NYPD officers executed search warrants at two locations in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn following a joint investigation with the DEA Strike Force, the DEA said.
At the first location, a house on East 13th Street in Brooklyn, police confiscated 200 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms, more than $30,000 in cash, more than 300 gift cards, one ounce of marijuana, and bank records, the DEA said.
At the second location, a house on East 11th Street in Brooklyn, police took more than 50 pounds of mushrooms, $400 in cash, and a 2007 Lexus 350 sport-utility vehicle, the DEA said.
"This investigation exposed and dismantled a massive psychedelic mushroom grow house, keeping hundreds of pounds of this illegal and dangerous drug off the streets," Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a news release. "I would like to thank all of the partners of the DEA Strike Force for their commitment to keeping our communities safe."
The mushrooms had a street value of almost $2 million.