Indianapolis police, Indiana State Police and the DEA raided multiple locations across the city on Wednesday, hauling in more than 1,500 pounds of unprocessed psilocybin mushrooms, hundreds of counterfeit pills, a cache of firearms and nearly $10,000 in cash. Two men, 41-year-old Paul Grimes and 26-year-old Jacob Anspach, were arrested on preliminary charges of dealing and possessing a controlled substance, though formal charges had not yet been filed.
The raids, dubbed Operation Bad Trip, grew out of an investigation into a fatal overdose earlier this year, according to WISH-TV. Detectives with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s Overdose Death Task Force worked to trace not just the dealer but the broader supply chain feeding drugs into the city, the station reported.
On Wednesday, officers from IMPD, ISP and the DEA executed search warrants at multiple locations across Indianapolis, per the same account. The haul included unprocessed mushrooms valued between $2.1 million and $4.2 million, though the station also reported a separate total of more than 1,800 pounds of psilocybin in various forms recovered citywide.
Pills, Mushroom Drinks and an Arsenal of Guns
Beyond the raw mushrooms, investigators recovered 25 pounds of dried cultivated psilocybin and 277 pounds of liquid psilocybin mushroom drinks, according to FOX59. Hundreds of pressed counterfeit pills marketed as X, ecstasy or Molly were also seized, the outlet reported — a detail that underscores how synthetic drugs are increasingly mixed into the same pipelines as plant-based psychedelics.
Search warrants also turned up two sawed-off shotguns, two AR rifles and three AR pistols, as well as $9,500 in cash, two vehicles and six pounds of marijuana, WTHR reported. Neither man’s attorney has been identified, and WTHR does not name suspects until prosecutors file formal charges, though IMPD has already identified Grimes and Anspach as the two men arrested.
Police Frame the Bust as Part of a Bigger Fight
IMPD Lieutenant Justin Gough described the investigation as more than just a major drug seizure, according to WTHR. Gough said investigators remain focused on pursuing justice and removing harmful substances from neighborhoods, and that the broader goal of the work is to protect families and prevent another tragedy like the one that triggered the case.
The scale of the Indianapolis seizure fits into a national pattern. Reported mushroom seizures across the country jumped from 402 in 2017 to 1,396 in 2022, with total weight climbing from 226 kilograms to 844 kilograms over that same stretch, according to a study published in ScienceDirect. The number of seizures nationwide rose by 368.9% between the first quarter of 2017 and the fourth quarter of 2022, with the Midwest accounting for the largest share, at 36%, the study found.
Indianapolis isn’t the only city where law enforcement has recently zeroed in on the psychedelic and counterfeit-pill trade. In Colorado Springs, police seized more than 2,600 pounds of THC, 7-OH and psilocybin products during raids on unlicensed smoke shops and liquor stores, according to KDVR. Official charges against Grimes and Anspach had not been filed as of the investigation’s announcement.
