Police arrest five in second raid at illegal Montreal magic mushroom shop, second location could open in Laval

Police carry out a raid at the FunGuyz magic mushroom dispensary in Montreal on Thursday, July 20, 2023. (CTV News)

Police have raided an illegal magic mushroom shop east of downtown Montreal for the second time since it opened its doors earlier this month.

On Thursday, police arrested five people at the FunGuyz store during an operation, according to a spokesperson. 

Const. J.P. Brabant said investigators descended on the shop, near the corner of Ontario Street and Papineau Avenue, shortly after 4 p.m. Officers also carried out two other searches: one at a second-floor apartment above FunGuyz that they said is "linked to the store," and another home elsewhere on the island.

Police seized an undisclosed amount of magic mushrooms and other items during the raid, Brabant said.

The police operation is ongoing. 

Police made four arrests during a raid at the controversial shop the same day it opened to the public on July 11. One woman was charged and appeared in court the following day to face one count of drug trafficking.

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante said, before the store opened, that the city would "apply the law" against the store. Brabant told CTV police would continue to crack down until the shop is closed or magic mushrooms are made legal.

"If those stores come back, for sure we're going to go back and raid them, because at this point, it's illegal. We're not going to let that go," he said. 

ANOTHER SHOP COULD OPEN IN LAVAL: SPOKESPERSON

Reached by CTV Thursday night, a person with the company said that despite the arrests, they plan to reopen at 11 a.m. Friday.

They also said the Montreal shop is popular, and that management is looking at opening another location in Laval, Que. "in about a week and a half." Owners of the franchize say they are fighting to make magic mushrooms legal in Canada. 

"I feel (the police response is) very unnecessary when there are bigger issues within Montreal," said the spokesperson, who asked not to be identified.

"Hardcore drugs are killing people. People are overdosing. People's lives are getting ruined," he said. "(But as for) magic mushrooms; psilocybin is a medicine."

"We're opening tomorrow at 11 a.m., again," he said. "So, we're just wasting taxpayers money." He also said anyone who was arrested will be provided with "the best lawyers in the country."