About 60 mason jars were discovered, where mushrooms in various states of growth were being cultivated, along with marijuana, LSD, and the extracted juice of a rare jungle root used to make one of the most powerful hallucinogens known to man, officials said.
TRENTON — Six people have been arrested and charged with drug offenses after firefighters battling a two-alarm blaze stumbled onto a lab for growing psychedelic mushrooms in the attic of a home near the Hamilton border on Tuesday, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said today.
About 60 mason jars were discovered, where mushrooms in various states of growth were being cultivated, along with marijuana, LSD, and the extracted juice of a rare jungle root used to make one of the most powerful hallucinogens known to man, officials said. Other substances which could not immediately be identified were sent to the State Police lab, said Lt. Mike Novembre of the county’s Special Investigations Unit.
The set-up was likely a “money-maker” for the drug dealers, Novembre said, who could exploit the fact they had a specialty operation.
“I’ve been doing narcotics work for 20 years, and this is the first time I’ve come across this,” Novembre said today.
Barry Roomberg, 50, owned the home on the 1100 block of Hamilton Avenue and is accused of being the ringleader, Novembre said. Roomberg allegedly was teaching himself how to cultivate the mushrooms, and handbooks on growing them were found in the attic lab.
In addition to Roomberg, arrested were his wife, 47-year-old Margaret Young; his 24-year-old son Benjamin Roomberg; Young’s 19-year-old daughter Maureen Young, and two other men who lived with the family at the home: 25-year-old Christopher Paoli, and 20-year-old Ellis Feliu.
All have been charged with maintaining or operating a drug production facility, along with numerous other possession, possession with the intent to distribute, and distribution charges, the prosecutor’s office said. Bail for each of them was set at $200,000.
Barry Roomberg is not familiar to drug investigators, Novembre said, and appeared to have set up his operation via mail orders. The lab included pH testers and other equipment to make sure the drug creations came out just right, authorities said.
Roomberg allegedly ordered syringes with spores preloaded into them and would place the spores onto straw or corn cobs so the mushrooms could grow, Novembre said.
The growing cultures were placed inside the mason jars, some with air holes and some without, and kept in the third-floor attic where the amount of light they received could be controlled, officials said. About 20 grams worth of dried mushrooms were in the attic — what authorities say was the finished product, ready for sale.
Also likely ordered by mail was the erowid mimosa root, used to produce a half-gallon of dimethyltryptamine that was allegedly found in the attic. Erowid mimosa is native to the jungles of South America and Jamaica, and getting the extract from the root is the first step in making an especially potent hallucinogen.
Using water, lye, and a freezer, dealers turn the liquid into a crystal, which produces an incredibly powerful high. The liquid extract can be reused three to four times, increasing the amount of crystals which can be made and sold.
Firefighters were called out to the home on Hamilton Avenue around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday on a fire in a basement crawl space. Both the fire department and law enforcement officials said the blaze was coincidental, and not caused by the drug operation.
County drug investigators called their federal counterparts at the Drug Enforcement Agency Tuesday morning because they thought they could have been dealing with a meth lab, Novembre said. Only the DEA has the resources to safely dismantle a meth cooking operation, he said. The agents remained and assisted in the investigation even after discovering the lab was for mushrooms, though no federal charges will be coming.
They also seized 50 hits of LSD, half a gram of crystal meth, and five Ecstacy pills, the prosecutor’s office said. Authorities are investigating how the hallucinogens were sold and distributed, and may be tracking down a larger operation.
“We’re still working on that angle also,” Novembre said.
Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705.
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