POLICE SEIZE MILLIONS IN DRUGS

Sizeable Mushroom Bust Said To Be One Of Biggest On Record

Investigators look over psilocybin mushrooms seized during a search
Tuesday in Clay County. Officers seized a total of 25 pounds during
their investigation.

Mushroom Seizure by the Numbers

Psilocybin mushrooms seized: 25 pounds

Dosage units: 1.13 million

Total value: $11.35 million

Drug officers from several agencies made a rare find in Clay County
this week.

They made a mushroom bust bigger than anything the North Texas Drug
Task Force has seen before.

Investigators Tuesday turned up 25 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms -
hallucinogenic drugs - with a street value topping $11 million.

One Clay County residence housed 21 pounds of the mushrooms,
investigators said.

"We were kind of amazed at the value," Wichita Falls police Sgt. Cindy
Walker said.

Investigators said if it wasn't the largest seizure of its kind in
North Texas, it was one of the largest.

Wichita Falls undercover officers, Department of Public Safety
narcotics officers and the Clay County Sheriff's Department conducted
the investigation.

Task Force Investigator Chris Taylor said the probe started after an
arrest in Dallas-Fort Worth several weeks ago produced some
information.

One person was arrested in Wichita County, he said, and another arrest
was pending in Clay County.

"It was involving the mushrooms that were being grown in the Petrolia
area that were going to other parts of the state," Taylor said. He
said officers tracked distribution all the way to Austin.

Joe Ben Patrick, 53, of Clay County was charged with unlawful delivery
or manufacture with intent to deliver a simulated controlled substance
in connection with an incident June 8. His bond was set at $10,000,
and he was not being held Thursday in the Wichita County Jail.

There is no field test for psilocybin mushrooms, and investigators are
waiting for results of other tests, which is why the charge addresses
a "simulated controlled substance."

The arrest affidavit gave this description of the incident:

Someone cooperating with the investigation arranged to have 3 pounds
of mushrooms delivered.

The person who delivered those mushrooms also cooperated, saying he's
bought mushrooms in the past from the suspect in this case. He said
that's where the 3 pounds of mushrooms he delivered came from.

That witness arranged with the suspect to have 1 pound delivered, the
affidavit said. That led to the search warrant in Clay County, a press
release from the Wichita Falls Police Department stated. Officers
found "where the psilocybin mushrooms were being cultivated," the
release stated. They seized the mushrooms and hauled the evidence away
in bags and glass jars. The jars filled a roomful of shelves.

"I think we made a significant dent," said Jim Blake, a DPS narcotics
investigator, "even though we didn't know we were having the problem."

Taylor said drug officers - used to working with drugs like
methamphetamine - haven't had that many run-ins with mushrooms. He's
only seen a few cases in nearly 10 years.

"I've even seized some from people on the streets before," Sgt. Walker
said - but never anything of this magnitude.

"We were very lucky that day," Blake said.