A British man was stabbed to death during an ayahuasca ceremony at an Amazonian spiritual retreat in Peru.
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Witnesses claim 29-year-old Canadian man Joshua Andrew Freeman Stevens killed Unais Gomes, 26, in “self-defence” after Mr Gomes attacked him with a knife during an ayahuasca ceremony.
Stevens then turned the knife on Gomes, stabbing him in the chest and stomach, he added.
“It might be folkloric, spiritual or whatever else, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a drug that dramatically alters your state of mind”, Iquitos police officer Normando Marques told Reuters.
Ayahuasca is a decoction of plants that is traditionally used by around 70 indigenous groups in the upper Amazon, and the formula varies between locations.
A Canadian man killed his friend and fellow tourist after both men consumed ayahuasca in a ceremony outside Iquitos last night.
The incident is said to have happened at Phoenix Ayahuasca, an alternative health centre in the Amazonian jungle.
Witnesses said the Mr Gomes, who is thought to be from London, had attacked the Canadian with a knife after suffering a bad trip during the ceremony.
Phoenix Ayahuasca was not responding to the story yesterday.
Many tourists seek the drug out because of its reputation as a way to help ease depression and other mental health problems. Gomes was participating in a formal occasion involving Ayahuasca – a particularly potent hallucinogenic plant brew – when the pair had an argument.
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In 2012, 18-year-year old Californian native Kyle Nolan died at another ayahuasca retreat in a different part of the vast Peruvian jungle, after allegedly being left on his own by the shaman leading the ceremony, and falling unconscious and asphyxiating.
