A woman died and two people were arrested in Sonora on Saturday after a shamanic detoxification therapy involving smoking frog venom.
Perla “N,” 31, was part of the ceremony near the border city of Nogales with six other people. She inhaled smoke from the venom from a Peruvian frog, the newspaper El Debate reported. The exact cause of death is yet to be determined.
The woman’s husband said after he left her with her mother and sister she was taken to a ranch for the treatment.
Two men who claimed to be ancestral shamans were arrested. They admitted that Perla had participated in the ceremony.
The indigenous Seri culture from Sonora has a similar practice involving psychoactive toxins emitted by the Colorado River toad.
The sought out substance is 5-MeO-DMT, a psychedelic of the tryptamine class found in the glands of some amphibians.
It is considered an ancestral medicine with the capacity to treat a range of physical, emotional and spiritual ailments. It is commonly dried, mixed with tobacco and smoked to trigger “a powerful religious-like trip that lasts about an hour,” according to the web site Addiction Center.
With reports from El Debate
