San Diego, California: Two Men Arrested After Psilocybin Gummies Were Left for Trick-or-Treaters in Ocean Beach

SAN DIEGO, California (Orbit Post) Two men are under arrest in San Diego after police say bags of psilocybin gummies were left on a porch in the Ocean Beach neighborhood on Halloween and picked up by at least 15 trick-or-treating children between 1 and 6 years old. Shawn Michael Foster, 45, pleaded not guilty on Friday to transporting controlled substances to a minor and two firearms related charges, ABC 10News reported. He is due back in court on Nov. 17.

What parents found on Halloween

San Diego police said the gummies were left on the porch of a home on the 2100 block of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard just before 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31. Parents walking with their children noticed the bright packages and pulled them out of the candy. Frank Cary told NBC 7 that his 2-year-old son grabbed a package and started walking away with it in his hand. "I noticed the picture had a giraffe and words that looked like they were melting. I took it out of his hand and saw that there was a dosage on the front of it. Five grams. Then I flipped it around and read 'psilocybin mushrooms,'" Cary said.

Parents confronted the homeowners and later filed a police report. They saved the packages, and police testing confirmed that the gummies contained psilocybin, the compound in psychedelic mushrooms. Police have not said that any child ate the gummies or became ill, and the case is being worked as a narcotics and child endangerment investigation.

Search warrant and two arrests

On Wednesday morning, Nov. 4, officers served a search warrant at the home, at about 11 a.m. Inside, officers found a bag of psilocybin gummies identical to the ones handed out on Halloween, City News Service reported. Detectives seized more than 2.5 pounds of cannabis, more than 25 grams of crystal methamphetamine, a working digital scale, packaging materials and drug sales ledgers. Officers also found an illegally possessed rifle, dozens of rounds of unfired ammunition and a partially assembled pistol.

Michael Goff, 80, was arrested and booked into San Diego County Jail on suspicion of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Foster was booked on suspicion of possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. A San Diego code compliance investigator also went to the property to open a separate investigation into unpermitted living structures there.

Not guilty plea and a family claim

A judge released Foster on supervised bail with orders to avoid minors, stay within San Diego County and refrain from drugs and drug paraphernalia. Goff faces a felony firearm possession charge and had not been arraigned in the reports published so far. Foster's daughter, Devilyn Foster, told NBC 7 that some neighbors dislike how the house appears and think of it as the "witch house," and she said she believes specific people have it out for her father. That claim is hers; police have released no finding that the case rests on anything other than the packages the parents turned over and what officers found in the search.

Anyone with information about the case can call the San Diego Police Department Narcotics Unit at 619-531-2468, or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477 to stay anonymous.