Drug bust in Provo is sweet deal

PROVO — Utah vice squad officers arrested a Provo man who is allegedly part of a drug ring that was shipping drugs across state lines undetected by cooking illegal hallucinogenic mushrooms into pieces of caramel-tasting candy.

The Utah County Major Crimes Task Force on Wednesday arrested Ammon R. Wilkinson, 24, after a monthlong investigation into the distribution of the drug-laced treats that arrived via Federal Express and U.S. Postal Service from California.

During a search of a Provo home connected to Wilkinson, officers found nearly 300 "candies," said task force Lt. Mike Forshee.

"For Utah and mushrooms, this is big," Forshee said. "They look like candies that grandma would have made and given you for Christmas."

A probe started in February when undercover officers arrested a 21-year-old man from Orem and booked him into the Utah County Jail for investigation of possession and distribution of psilocybin mushrooms, in addition to several other drug charges.

Additional police work led Utah officials to Arcata, Calif., where it's believed the mushroom candy was being concocted before it was mailed to Utah.

A federal arrest warrant issued this week allowed California officers to go into a house in Arcata. There, they found nearly 3 pounds of mushrooms, candy molds, wrapping paper and caramel candies similar to those sold in Utah.

"The quantity of mushrooms that we seized here is certainly not something that we're used to," said California's Humboldt County Drug Task Force special agent Kym Thompson. "They do grow wild here, but it is certainly not common to see that quantity of mushrooms."

Humboldt officers also found 20 to 25 pounds of marijuana and equipment to turn marijuana into hash oil, Forshee said.

The total street value of all the drugs recovered is estimated to be around $100,000, according to the Utah County task force.

After the California search warrant was executed, the Utah officers were able to get warrants to seize a bank account and search a business and home in Provo.

Wilkinson and Aaron L. Struth, from Arcata, Calif., both face a federal complaint of conspiracy to distribute psilocybin, according to court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.

The candy case was the first of the task force's two big drug cases this week.