Peyote - The Controversial Cactus

In the mid 1990's, A peaceful family's home was raided by the federal police for possession of the peyote cactus. This families religious beliefs involved using this cactus to invoke an experience for them to communicate with a higher being, And using peyote was the only way for them to do this and it has been the only way for centuries. The government destroyed the sacred conservatory gardens where a large amount of the peyote plants were grown. Almost 12,000 plants were taken and destroyed and the church grounds of the native people were completely desecrated.

After these tragic events, many questions needed to be answered by the government as to why they invaded the property of these families, and why their religious freedom had been embarked on. A man by the name of Leonardo Mercado led a group called "The Peyote Foundation" where he embraced this sacred plant and all of the rituals that went along with it. In January of 1999 the Pinal county task force ( which is held in Arizona ) put out a warrant for the arrest of Leonardo Mercado. Leonardo was placed in custody for child support arrearage. After paying the $1000 that he owed for child support arrearage, Leonardo was released from custody. The next morning Leonardo's wife, Raven Mercado, Spoke with detective Aubrey Keck and informed him that removing the peyote plants from the sacred church was against Arizona's state law ( Law 13-3402(b) ) which states that the Peyote cactus is aloud to be used with religious ceremonies.

As more officers accompanied by K9 search dogs arrived at the scene, they were immediately ordered to remove all of the plants and sacrament. As the removal proceeded many natives prayed and sang as they saw their sacred religion being destroyed in front of their own eyes. Inside of the houses that were invaded by the task force and federal police, Many things were destroyed such as family photos and personal belongings. The task force even confiscated the Mercado's family computer and all of the cash that they had left in their house.

Needless to say, All evidence of this destruction was caught of video by a local journalist. The actions taken by the Pinal County task force were a complete violation of the home and church of the Mercado family and all who follow the religion involving the Peyote cactus. A very serious hate crime was committed by the authorities who ran this investigation but nothing at all was done to prosecute them. In my opinion this shows how we are at the governments mercy, even when it comes to religious belief. They say we have rights for religion, privacy, and protection against unreasonable search and seizure. This proves that we have nothing of the sort when it comes to protecting ourselves against the government and their investigations on our property and religion.