You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Caribbean-Latin America
Canadian studying hallucinogenic medicine gets on wrong side of Peruvian villagers
2018-04-24
[AP] LIMA, Peru -- A 41-year-old Canadian who traveled to Peru to study hallucinogenic medicine was killed by a mob in a remote corner of the Amazon rain forest after people blamed him for the slaying of an elderly shaman, authorities said Sunday. Peru's attorney general's office said Sebastian Woodroffe was dragged by the neck shortly after the killing of Olivia Arevalo, an octogenarian plant healer from the Shipibo-Konibo tribe of northeastern Peru.

Officials backed away from initial reports that Woodroffe was the principal suspect in Arevalo's killing.

Arevalo and Woodroffe were both killed Thursday in the indigenous community of Victoria Gracia, officials said. But police did not begin to investigate until a cellphone video appeared in local media showing a man purported to be Woodroffe begging for mercy while being dragged between thatch-roofed homes. He was then left motionless on the muddy ground.

On Saturday, officials dug up Woodroffe's body from an unmarked grave where he had been hastily buried.

Every year thousands of foreign tourists travel to the Peruvian Amazon to experiment with ayahuasca, a bitter, dark-colored brew made of a mixture of native plants. The hallucinogenic cocktail, also known as yage, has been venerated for centuries by indigenous tribes in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia as a cure for all sorts of ailments. But it's also increasingly consumed by Western tourists looking for mind-altering experiences, sometimes with deadly consequences.
Posted by:Besoeker

#8  Blame Whitey works south of equator too.
Posted by: Maggie Chinemp2886   2018-04-24 20:59  

#7  At least that part of the rainforest is safe, for now!
Posted by: Raj   2018-04-24 16:30  

#6  Should have gone to San Francisco and tried the LSD.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2018-04-24 10:56  

#5   In another article, the witch doctor killer(s) are not so clear and Woodroffe might be the victim of an old-fashioned lynching.

"Arevalo's slaying prompted outrage, as it followed other unsolved killings of indigenous leaders and activists who faced repeated death threats related to their efforts to keep illegal loggers and oil palm growers off native lands."
Posted by: JohnQC   2018-04-24 10:42  

#4  An ingredient in ayahuasca quite often ends up being lots of spit from the shaman making the stuff as some of it is chewed first in the shaman's mouth.
YUCK!!
Posted by: 3dc   2018-04-24 06:16  

#3  Drank their Yage and walked out without paying ?
Posted by: Besoeker   2018-04-24 05:58  

#2  Now THAT's a "bad trip"
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2018-04-24 01:26  

#1  She probably tried to grope him when he was high.
Posted by: Skidmark   2018-04-24 00:48  

00:00