A Riverview man is facing multiple drug charges after Hillsborough County deputies say he ran a psychedelics operation out of his home and advertised it on Facebook Marketplace. According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, deputies with the Opioid Overdose Investigation Section searched a home in the 5500 block of Coolidge Street on October 1 and seized 131 live plants, about 50 pounds of mescaline-containing cacti, roughly 1.5 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms, and growing supplies.
Zachary Diaz, 32, was arrested and faces three counts of possession with intent to sell and three counts of delivery of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a church, plus two counts of manufacture of a controlled substance. He also had outstanding warrants from an ongoing investigation. The location matters legally: Florida law increases penalties for drug sales that happen near churches, schools, and other protected places.
The case raises some uncomfortable questions. Mescaline cacti and psilocybin mushrooms carry deep cultural and spiritual traditions, which is why their legal status is debated in many communities. At the same time, deputies describe this as a commercial-scale growing and sales operation. And the platform angle is hard to ignore: Marketplace is where most of us shop for furniture, not felony charges.
What do you think? Should online marketplaces do more to screen what gets listed, or is that asking too much of a platform built for garage sales?
