PORTLAND — A Portland man accused of trying to import Ecstasy hidden in a shipment of wax candles and psychedelic mushroom spores from the Netherlands faces federal charges.
Adam James George, 39, is accused of possessing with intent to distribute controlled substances, including Ecstasy and psylocibin mushrooms.
The package of Ecstasy and mushrooms was intercepted on Aug. 22 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in San Francisco during an inspection at an international U.S. mail branch, according to federal court documents.
It was addressed to a North Portland address from the Netherlands and contained 1,045 grams of Ecstasy packaged in five plastic bags. The Ecstasy was encapsulated in wax, in the center of five different wax candles, according to federal Special Agent Nathan Bresee.
The package was addressed to George’s past roommate, who hadn’t lived with him for about 2 1/2 years, federal authorities learned.
When George picked up the package at Portland’s Kenton post office on Aug. 31, he was arrested.
A search of his home revealed several mail parcels from “Shrooms-to-Go,” one of which contained mushroom spores in prepackaged syringes, Bresee wrote in a criminal complaint. George also had plastic bottles in his bedroom that contained psilocybin mushroom spores in various stages of germination, and a large Ziploc baggy full of germinated mushrooms inside a rice cooker, according to the complaint.
George was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on Aug. 31. He made his first appearances in U.S. District Court in Portland last week. He was released on Friday on pretrial supervision.
While out on custody awaiting trial, George will be subject to computer monitoring, as well as alcohol and drug screening.
