Mexico City, Mexico — Customs agents inside the Mexico City International Airport have seized 144 kilos of ayahuasca. The discovery of the illegal drug was made earlier in the week during a luggage scan.
Agents at the Customs Office of the Mexico City International Airport reported seeing unusually shaped items inside “16 suitcases checked in by three international passengers, one with a Brazilian passport and two with a Mexican passport.”
After the detection of the irregular items, a manual inspection was carried out which “revealed the presence of 144 transparent bags with a brown substance,” they reported.
A K9 was brought in with support of the Secretary of the Navy who marked the presence of the illicit substance. Ayahuasca, and a chemically similar preparation pharmahuasca, is a psychoactive brew made from specific South American vines, shrubs and other ingredients.
It is prepared as a tea. When consumed, it causes an altered state of consciousness or high, including visual hallucinations and altered perceptions of reality. It is considered a prohibited substance in Mexico.