An inspection in Vista in September by San Diego Sheriff's deputies and the California Department of Public Health in which "mushroom magic" chocolate bars were seized for drug testing later ballooned into the turnover of thousands of pounds of products worth millions of dollars, officials said.
The inspectors were focused on Polka Dot chocolate bars, a brand that deputies said, in a news release sent out Friday, had a "history being altered and [counterfeited] by various manufacturers."
Investigators said the bars taken in September, which were originally suspected of containing Amanita muscaria mushrooms, were later tested at the San Diego County Regional Crime Laboratory, where they instead were found to contain two controlled substances, 4-Acetoxy-DET (4-Acetoxy-N, N-diethltryptamine) and 4-Hydroxy DET (4-Hydroxy-N, N-diethyltryptamine).
Diethyltryptamine, also known as DET, is a Schedule 1 controlled substance, according to the sheriff's department, and is similar in chemical makeup to DMT, which officials described as a "strong psychedelic drug and hallucinogen."
A. muscaria mushrooms are familiarly known as psychedelic, or "magic," mushrooms.
Members of the two agencies then returned to the business on Nov. 8, where workers "surrendered" 95,000 chocolate bars to the CDPH which then "turned over" the bars to sheriff's deputies, authorities said.
"Products which are mislabeled and sold as safe to consumers but, in reality, are laced with dangerous levels of THC, psilocybin and other dangerous drugs, are a threat to public safety and to consumers," San Diego Sheriff Kelly Martinez said, in part, in the news release.
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Officials said the thousands of chocolate bars weighed more than seven tons and could have been sold for an amount in excess of $3 million.
The sheriff's department said later on Friday that no arrests have been made in connection to the case and that more information may be released as the case continues. NBC 7 asked investigators for the name of the business in Vista but was told that that information was unavailable due to the investigation being ongoing.
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