Canadian accused of drug-induced stabbing
A Canadian is accused of killing a British tourist after taking a psychedelic drug while the pair were attending a spiritual healing session at a resort in Peru.
Police in the port city of Iquitos say Joshua Andrew Freeman Stevens, 29, stabbed 26-yearold Unais Gomes with a kitchen knife.
Stevens, a Winnipeg native, had taken the psychedelic drug ayahuasca during a spiritual healing ceremony.
Ayahuasca — made up of an Amazonian plant and dimethyltryptamine — is not known to cause violence, Valeria Villacorta, a police spokeswoman said.
“I was surprised that this drug caused this man to become aggressive. Normally this drug just produces hallucinations, and you see pictures of your life, your past and your present.”
Police detained Stevens, but he has since been released.
Normando Marques, a police chief in the region, told Reuters news agency that Stevens killed Gomes in self-defence. He said Gomes attacked Stevens with the knife first. Stevens was able to take away the knife and used it to kill his friend, Marques said.
Villacorta said Gomes was cut on the right side of his stomach and had a wound on the left side of his head.
A video shows Peruvian police arriving on the scene on Wednesday. A body, believed to be Gomes, is sprawled on the floor. Stevens is arrested and led away by police without resistance.
The U. K. embassy in Peru confirmed Gomes was a British citizen who died during the incident.
“I can confirm that we are in contact with the local authorities in Peru and stand ready to provide consular assistance to Mr. Unais Gomes’ family at this difficult time,” spokeswoman Claudia Celis said.
The Canadian government is also in contact with police.
“We are aware of a Canadian citizen released from detention in Peru,” Amy Mills, a spokeswoman for Global Affairs Canada, said.
“Canadian consular officials are in touch with local authorities and providing consular assistance. To protect the privacy of the individual concerned, further details cannot be provided.”
According to his Facebook profile, Stevens is a father who once worked “helping people with physical and mental disabilities.”
Stevens isn’t the first Canadian to be involved in a Peruvian spiritual ceremony that ended in a death. In January, 32-yearold Canadian Jennifer Joy Logan died in a Peruvian jungle after drinking a nicotine-based tea used in spiritual ceremonies in the region.