A cache of a seasonal delicacy of illegal narcotics users -- hallucinogenic mushrooms fashioned into caramel candies -- is off the streets in Utah County after police broke up an interstate ring.

Approximately $100,000 worth of narcotic bonbons were seized in Provo and Arcata, Calif., in the past month by Utah County Major Crimes Task Force members and their California counterparts after a monthlong investigation into the distribution of psilocybin mushrooms, said Lt. Mike Forshee, the task force's commander.

The mushrooms, which give a user a psychedelic effect similar to LSD or peyote, are a main ingredient in the candies that were being produced in Arcata and then mailed to Provo as a distribution point, he said.

Investigators seized approximately 300 of the candies in Provo and 2 to 3 pounds of the psilocybin mushrooms along with candy molds, wrapping paper and the finished candies in Arcata. California police also discovered large quantities of marijuana and lab equipment used to convert it into hash oil.

"This was a multi-state distribution ring and fairly significant," Forshee said. "We've never seen mushrooms packaged like this made into candies. This is unusual."

Psilocybin mushrooms grow naturally in moist forests in the Northwest, he said, yet a farm or lab is required to grow them in any sizable quantities.

The mushrooms and their byproducts, in this case caramel candies, are popular club drugs and are found at raves, Forshee said.

"We won't see them for a year ... then all of sudden they'll pop up for a month," he said. "It's kind of bizarre."

Taran Newson, 21, of Orem, was arrested Feb. 15 by the task force on charges of distribution and possession of the mushrooms and possession of ecstasy and hash oil.

Ammon R. Wilkinson, 24, of Provo, was arrested on a federal warrant this month for conspiracy to distribute psilocybin mushrooms.

Forshee said the two Utah suspects and single California suspect both face federal prosecution in the case.

"Other arrests are pending," he said.

Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City, said federal conspiracy to distribute psilocybin complaints were filed against Wilkinson and Aaron L. Struth, the Arcata-based suspect in the mushroom ring, on Tuesday.

Wilkinson is scheduled to appear today before a U.S. magistrate judge at 11 a.m., she said. Struth had a detention hearing before a judge Thursday.

"The potential penalty for the charge is up to 20 years in federal prison," Rydalch said.

It's not uncommon for further charges or defendants to be added to a case prior to it going before a grand jury, she said.

Getting drug-filled mushroom candy off the street wasn't the only thing keeping task force members busy this week.

On Tuesday, Major Crimes officers broke up a Pleasant Grove methamphetamine operation netting nearly 4 ounces of the drug with a street value of $11,000, along with other drugs and cash.

After detectives apprehended one suspect who fled on foot during a traffic stop, Forshee said police were aided by an unlikely source -- a young man on a blind date with a girl. He saw the driver leave as police chased the other suspect, and he followed the car into American Fork and called police.

That led to the arrest of three other suspects and search warrants seizing methamphetamine, marijuana and other drug paraphernalia at two Pleasant Grove residences.

Arrested were: Nathan Karner, 23, of St. George; Jarred Campbell, 31, of American Fork; Gregory Brereton, 38, of Pleasant Grove; and Michelle Lowery, 40, of Pleasant Grove.

Michael Rigert can be contacted at 344-2548 or mrigert@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.