Anti-drugs operation in Hunedoara: two arrested after Ayahuasca ceremony
A Peruvian citizen and a Danish national were arrested after over 6.6 litres of liquid substance containing high-risk drugs were found at a guesthouse in Boșorod.
Spiritual rituals as a smokescreen for drug trafficking, dismantled in Hunedoara County
Google News RO — Crime (ro) reports that interim interior affairs minister Cătălin Predoiu highlighted on Tuesday an anti-drugs operation recently carried out in Hunedoara County, describing it as an example of combating a "highly deceptive" method of distributing prohibited substances: purported therapies or spiritual rituals, presented to the public as attractive and apparently harmless experiences.
"Under the guise of spiritual rituals, a number of citizens were to be intoxicated with high-risk drugs," Predoiu said in a video message published on the Interior Affairs Ministry website. According to the minister, anti-drugs police officers, in cooperation with prosecutors from DIICOT, intervened and stopped the operation before the substances reached participants.
Two men arrested, one woman under judicial supervision
The Romanian Police announced on Monday that two men — a Peruvian citizen and a Danish national — were detained and remanded in custody, whilst a woman, a Romanian citizen, was placed under judicial supervision, in a case involving international and domestic trafficking of high-risk drugs.
At a guesthouse in the locality of Boșorod, Hunedoara County, where a ceremony for "reconnecting with oneself" was scheduled, investigators discovered over 6.6 litres of liquid substance containing high-risk drugs. According to investigators, on 27 August 2026, the two men allegedly brought the drugs into Romania in connection with the event organised by the woman detained.
The substances were to be consumed in the form of preparations known as Ayahuasca and San Pedro. Ayahuasca contains DMT, and the San Pedro cactus contains mescaline — both classified as high-risk drugs under Romanian legislation, according to a police statement.
Ceremony promoted online, access only through recommendation
The event had been promoted on the internet as an experience of spiritual reconnection, and shamans and other individuals were said to have announced their presence at the ceremonies. Participants were reportedly recruited through interviews organised during the summer of this year, with access available exclusively on the basis of recommendation.
The cost of participation was 590 or 650 euros per person, with the sums including, according to prosecutors, the ceremonies, accommodation and meals.
Predoiu: anti-drugs struggle, mandate priority
Minister Predoiu emphasised that this operation demonstrates the capacity of anti-drugs structures to adapt to traffickers' new tactics. He highlighted three key elements of the case: the drugs were intercepted before reaching consumers, the distribution method was a particularly deceptive one, and the action proves the operational flexibility of police officers.
"I receive weekly reports about seizures and dismantled groups," Predoiu stated, adding that over the past three years the Romanian Police have carried out hundreds of anti-drugs operations, dismantled hundreds of trafficking groups and brought thousands of traffickers to justice.
The minister also cited a recent international operation in which Romanian structures dismantled an international group and seized nearly two tonnes of high-risk drugs.
Drug trafficking, "a scourge of 30 billion euros annually in Europe"
Predoiu placed the case in a broader context, noting that drug trafficking represents a business of 30 billion euros annually in Europe alone and that all European states, including Romania, are seriously affected. "I am aware that this struggle is permanent and long-term," the minister declared.
He urged the future government with full powers to continue prioritising the anti-drugs struggle and to allocate necessary resources, including for the implementation of the "European Drug Prevention Roadmap". "And for this priority we urgently need a government with full powers, because we wish to launch new anti-drugs policies and new methods of combating trafficking," Predoiu specified.
Special status for anti-drugs police officers, requested from Parliament
The minister also made an appeal to Parliament for the construction of a special statute dedicated to police officers engaged in anti-drugs work, which would recognise the risks they undertake and the importance of the work carried out.
"Until then, dear anti-drugs police officers and DIICOT prosecutors, I thank you and congratulate you on recent operations. I ask you to pursue this struggle with determination," Predoiu transmitted, emphasising that the results of this struggle determine "how our society will look tomorrow and beyond".
The case is being investigated by DIICOT prosecutors, with investigations continuing to establish all circumstances of the international drug trafficking.
Source: Google News RO — Crime (ro)