PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Portland Police Bureau on Thursday confirmed to KOIN 6 that Shroom House was served a search warrant and the apparent owner of the store was arrested.
This comes days after KOIN 6 News broke the news that the business was illegally selling psilocybin, or magic mushrooms.
Photos shared by KOIN 6 viewers show several Portland police vehicles parked outside of the building.
Steven Tachie Jr., who the Oregon Secretary of State lists on ownership documents, was booked into Multnomah County Jail Thursday morning. He is facing 10 felony counts of laundering of monetary instruments and 10 felony counts of manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance.
PPB said three more arrests were made, including Jeramiahs Geronimo who is facing the same charges as Tachie. Victor Fabela and Ivan Mametyev were issued felony citations for the delivery of psilocybin.
Further, officials confirmed over $13,000 in cash was collected as evidence and 22.1 pounds of psilocybin were seized, including dried fungus and other edibles. PPB says the products field tested presumptive positive for psilocybin, but a sample will be sent to the Oregon State Police crime lab to be confirmed.
Video obtained by KOIN 6 shows law enforcement officials reviewing and collecting evidence inside the store.
The shop typically opens at 10 a.m. but the door remained gated and locked following the earlier raid. The store also appeared to be empty of products that are typically on display.
“I didn’t expect this shut down to come for a few more weeks,” said Wesley Mahan, the superintendent of the condo building where Shroom House was operated on the ground floor. “When the story broke, the parking disappeared overnight. Lines went around the building a block long and there were zero parking spots left.”
Several disappointed customers came by Thursday morning to find that the store was closed and shelves were empty.
“It sucks that they got raided because it’s natural. I wanted to try and get some shrooms,” said Alex Godoy, of Hillsboro.
The sale of psilocybin mushrooms is illegal in Oregon. Voters only passed the use of psilocybin overseen by a licensed therapeutic professional. The state doesn’t start accepting applications until next year.
Despite the Oregon Health Authority and police saying this is not legal, people were still seen lining up outside the store this week.
For people who did buy magic mushrooms here and gave Shroom House staff two forms of identification, the Better Business Bureau says their biggest concern in giving that sensitive information to the wrong hands would be identity theft and that Shroom House customers should monitor their accounts.
Anyone with information is urged to e-mail crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov, attention: NOC and reference case number 22-324763.