By Neil Farrell ~
The County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a man who fled a traffic 
stop, crashed his vehicle into San Luis Creek and took off on foot, giving them the slip but leaving behind a truckload of evidence of suspected drug making activity.
It started at about 12:30 a.m. Saturday, March 12 on Hwy 101.
“Sheriff’s deputies attempted to initiate a traffic stop in the area of Highway 101 southbound and Madonna Road,” reads a new release from Sheriff’s spokesman, Tony Cipolla. “Deputies attempted to pull over a black, 1996 Dodge Dakota pickup truck because of a vehicle code violation.”
The driver failed to pull over and a pursuit ensued but didn’t last long. “The pursuit ended when the truck drove over a curb in the 3600 block of South Higuera and down the embankment of San Luis Obispo Creek,” Cipolla said. “The driver of the vehicle fled into the creek area and was not apprehended” apparently disappearing into the night. But he left behind some very suspicious items.
“Inside the cab of the truck,” Cipolla said, “deputies located a loaded .45-caliber handgun, a wig, two, 2-way radios and a bullet proof vest.”
In the bed of the truck, they found “chemistry paraphernalia and chemicals associated with a hallucinogenic drug production lab.” In the truck’s toolbox, Cipolla said, they found a 1903 Springfield rifle outfitted with a scope.
“DNA and fingerprints were collected from the truck’s interior, the weapons and the laboratory components,” he added. A Department of Justice lab is analyzing that evidence.
The chemicals found were ordinary, common household chemicals but they are allegedly serving a nefarious purpose — to produce a hallucinogenic, naturally occurring chemical that law enforcement says has effects similar to LSD, though not nearly as powerful.
According to Wikipedia, the drug “Dimethyltryptamine,” or DMT is popular in college-aged circles but “Historically, it has been consumed by indigenous Amazonian Indian cultures in the form of ayahuasca for divinatory and healing purposes.”
DMT is part of ancient spiritual rituals in South America and their descendents have won lawsuits to be allowed to use it in religious ceremonies here.
In December 1994 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Brazil-based União do Vegetal Church or UDV which wanted to import DMT laden tree leaves to make a tea and use the drug for its Christmas celebration.
In a 2006 ruling the Court said they could import it and use it regularly under the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Otherwise, DMT is a schedule one drug in the U.S.
DMT was first synthesized in 1931, according to Wikipedia, by Canadian chemist Richard Helmuth Fredrick Manske and later scientists discovered it occurring naturally in several varieties of South American tree species, being found in roots, bark and leaves of more than 50 species.
It is a member of the “tryptamine” family of psychedelic substances, that includes psilocybin found in some mushrooms. It produces an intense high “characterized as being otherworldly,” according to Wikipedia, and, “The dependence potential of oral DMT and the risk of sustained psychological disturbance are minimal.”
That’s because scientists say the body metabolizes DMT quickly. There are other, more potent ways to take it.
Other means of ingestion — vaporizing, injecting, or insufflating [inhalation] — of the drug “can produce powerful hallucinations for a short time [usually less than half an hour].” DMT reaches the brain before it can be metabolized by the body.
Cipolla told KSBY TV, that the Sheriff’s Office had never seen the drug in SLO County before and were determined to see that it doesn’t gain a foothold here.
The Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help in catching the well-armed, suspected drug maker who got away. Call 781-4550 or Crime Stoppers at 549-7867 and remain anonymous. You can also text tips to Crime Stoppers by texting “SLOTIPS plus your message” to CRIMES (274637).