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Raids netted peyote, guns along with mushrooms By Bill Varble of the Mail Tribune GRANTS PASS -- Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel pointed to several small gray plastic trash bags of psilocybin mushrooms and what he said were peyote cactuses in pots and trays. "This is just a sample," the sheriff said. "We expect the total to go up. Evidence is still being seized." At a Friday morning press conference in a small room at the Josephine County Sheriff's Office, Daniel said more than 14 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms, more than 1,000 peyote buttons and several handguns, rifles and shotguns were among items seized by law enforcement officers Thursday in Williams and the Illinois Valley. About $10,000 in cash also was seized, he said. He said the firearms included "nothing exotic." He said the mushrooms were valued at $750 a pound. The sheriff showed off the evidence in the wake of early morning raids Thursday in which more than 150 flak-jacketed sheriff's deputies, police and federal agents armed with 19 search warrants swooped down on 15 homes in the Williams area and five more in the Illinois Valley. Daniel said the massive action was the culmination of a three-year investigation that involved the Internal Revenue Service, FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and most police agencies in Southern Oregon. He said the investigation led to seizures of illegal drugs in Kansas and Vermont that officials traced back to rural Josephine County. He praised officers. "It was the smoothest operation I've ever been involved in," he said. "We all worked extremely well together." Officers met no resistance during the day, the sheriff said. No suspects were arrested as a in the raids. Instead, suspects were identified and fingerprints were taken, and evidence will be presented to a grand jury. Daniel said he didn't know how soon a grand jury would be convened. He described the seizure of several pounds of marijuana, 109 pot plants and the firearms as a lucky "side benefit" of the raids. The sheriff said mushrooms were being propagated from spores at two of the sites raided. Although they grow wild in Oregon, psilocybin mushrooms are a controlled substance and are illegal to possess or grow. Peyote is legal for some American Indian religious ceremonies but illegal for everybody else, Daniel said. "I'm not an expert, but I think it causes people to do things they wouldn't normally do," he said. He said not every home raided by officers yielded illegal drugs. Several Williams residents said they were pleased with the raids, he said. He said officials believe the suspects are part of a major network for distributing mushrooms. "We made a serious dent in mushroom distribution in the United States," he said. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA