KSP busts Eubank mushroom operation

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November 13, 2009

By CHRIS HARRIS, Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Fri Nov 13, 2009, 08:31 PM EST

Somerset — In making a drug bust Thursday, authorities expected to potentially find a methamphetamine operation. Instead, they found a fungus — lots of it.

According to Trooper Don Trosper, at 10 a.m. Thursday morning, Kentucky State Police units responded to the report of a possible meth lab at a residence in Eubank. A search warrant was obtained go inside the home located at 104 Tank Pond Spur Road.

Upon arrival, Trooper First Class Darren Allen, Trooper Anthony Phillips, and Det. Doug Boyd discovered an indoor growing operation. According to the Lake Cumberland Area Drug Task Force (LCADTF), there inside were approximately a thousand psilocybin mushrooms — that is, mushrooms which have psychedelic effects when ingested.

TFC Allen contacted the Lake Cumberland Area Drug Task Force, the London, Ky. Drug Enforcement Administration office and the London Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms office for assistance at the scene.

Many of the mushrooms were in various growing stages, along with some already dried, processed and packaged for sale, according to LCADTF’s David Gilbert. The operation consisted of a semi-sterile grow-room holding 40 large plastic totes which contained the mushrooms in “a very sophisticated growth recording system,” according to Gilbert. The growing environment was humidity- and temperature-controlled.

Also found were large amounts of sterilized rice wheat and corn that were being converted into a growth medium for sterile spore cultivation, according to Gilbert. Culture-laden Petri dishes, along with several truck loads of grow equipment were seized by the LCADTF.

The operation is believed to be one of the largest psilocybin cultivation cases in Kentucky, being capable or producing thousands of high grade psilocybin mushrooms annually, the LCADTF stated.

Following the discovery, KSP arrested Robert Keith Clark, 45, of Eubank, and charged with second-degree trafficking in a controlled substance, a first offense. He was lodged in the Pulaski County Detention Center.

The Lake Cumberland Area Drug Task Force is continuing the investigation. Following a complete forensic analysis of the evidence, the case will be presented to a federal or state grand jury, and more arrests are expected in the case, according to the LCADTF.

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