Man has kids harvest magic mushrooms, gives them ‘microdoses’ in California, feds say
A man accused of using 9- and 11-year-olds to harvest psilocybin sent a photo of one of them holding a “large” hallucinogenic mushroom, writing that the child “cultivates and microdoses,” federal prosecutors said.
“It’s good for kids’ brains,” Randal Vance wrote in the same message to another person involved in the drug trafficking scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.
Randal Vance told customers that children helped produce the hallucinogens at two locations in San Diego County, where authorities found more than 250 pounds of fresh and dried psilocybin mushrooms, as well as an estimated 40 pounds of psilocybin chocolate bars, in October, prosecutors said at a March 20 hearing.
Randal Vance, 42, of Fallbrook; his wife, Rebecca Vance, 41, of Oceanside; and Randal Vance’s friend, Keir Ceballos-Rivera, 33, also of Oceanside, were arrested March 19 on federal drug trafficking charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a March 20 news release.
Attorney information for the Vances and Ceballos-Rivera wasn’t immediately available the morning of March 21.
According to prosecutors, children were put to work at two sites in Fallbrook and Bonsall, where local law enforcement also found substrate and equipment meant for harvesting psilocybin, also known as “magic mushrooms,” on Oct. 4.
Psilocybin can alter a person’s perception of reality and distort the senses, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Additionally, authorities discovered psilocybin capsules, molds for chocolate bars and six unsecured guns kept by Randal Vance at the Bonsall location, prosecutors said. The weapons were seized.
Local law enforcement arrested Randal that day, according to prosecutors.
‘No face, no case’
Following his arrest, Randal Vance, his wife and Ceballos-Rivera tried to destroy evidence, prosecutors said. They’re accused of deleting text messages and shutting down websites Randal Vance used to distribute psychedelic mushrooms.
During the March 20 hearing, prosecutors detailed some of the messages and discussions.
Randal Vance bragged about giving children microdoses of psilocybin and encouraged other people to do the same, prosecutors said.
On Oct. 13, 2023, when Randal Vance messaged a co-conspirator about an 11-year-old cultivating and microdosing mushrooms, he also mentioned a 9-year-old child, according to prosecutors.
“Yeah I usually do a half dose of microdose capsules for them,” Randal Vance said about the children, prosecutors said. “.05 every other day for them. It’s such a difference too.”
On May 31, one child, who was a student at Lincoln Middle School in Oceanside, told Randal Vance that “he was selling a psilocybin capsule to a friend for $3,” prosecutors said.
In response, Randal Vance said: “Nice! Make sure your friend’s parents don’t find out or you and I are in big big trouble,” according to prosecutors.
A few months later, on Sept. 7, Ceballos-Rivera sent a photo to Randal Vance of a different child, prosecutors said.
In the photo, the child was seen at the Fallbrook location holding a “large” mushroom, which blocked part of their face, according to prosecutors.
“From earlier today haha” Ceballos-Rivera wrote in the message, according to prosecutors, adding “no face, no case.”
The charges
An indictment charges Randal Vance, Rebecca Vance and Ceballos-Rivera with a conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and a conspiracy to obstruct justice, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Randal Vance and Ceballos-Rivera are also charged with a conspiracy to employ or use minors to violate the Controlled Substances Act, according to prosecutors
Randal Vance is additionally charged with distribution of a controlled substance to minors and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, prosecutors said.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie E. Torres ordered the Vances to be detained without bond “because they are a flight risk,” according to prosecutors.
Ceballos-Rivera’s detention hearing is scheduled for March 25.
For anyone concerned about their child being potentially “exposed to illegal drugs as a result of the activities alleged in this case,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office encourages submitting an online tip to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 12:39 PM with the headline "Man has kids harvest magic mushrooms, gives them ‘microdoses’ in California, feds say."
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