An orthopedic surgeon from Arizona is facing drug trafficking and possession charges after authorities said he tried to bring LSD, MDMA and hallucinogenic mushrooms aboard the Norwegian Jewel at PortMiami on Tuesday. The ship was bound for the Bahamas.
Dr. Jacob Lee Henrichsen, 38, of Central, Arizona, works at Mount Graham Regional Medical Center in Safford, according to the hospital’s website and state licensing records. According to a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office arrest report, deputies searched luggage as part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s “Operation Temptation.” Officers pulled Henrichsen aside for a secondary inspection and found capsules, gummies, pills, vape pens and chocolate bars stamped with mushrooms.
Authorities said about 236 grams of gummies tested positive for THC, and nearly 11 grams of gummies, pills and capsules tested positive for MDMA. The mushroom chocolate bars weighed close to 160 grams. Federal officers handed the case to the sheriff’s office because the amounts did not meet the threshold for federal prosecution.
Henrichsen faces a first-degree felony trafficking charge and two felony possession charges. At a Wednesday hearing, his Miami attorney, Orlando Rodriguez, said the stated weights overstate the drug amount because the gummies are mostly sugar and water. A judge ordered Henrichsen held on a $40,000 bond. The medical center did not return a call seeking comment.
Deputies also arrested two women from out of state on lesser THC charges in the same operation. Kimberly Ann Shannon, 57, of Norton, Ohio, and Lori Ellen Watt, 51, of Plainfield, Illinois, were accused of trying to bring gummies and vape pens aboard.
