Man charged with making drug

A 38-year-old Gloucester Township man has been charged with using his Blackwood residence as a base to make a psychedelic drug derived from plants, authorities said Friday.

Robert Vickers of Little Gloucester Road was charged with various drug offenses accusing him of manufacturing dimethyltryptamine, known as the hallucinogenic drug DMT, in the residence.

The arrest was the result of a monthlong investigation by the Gloucester Township police and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

Authorities raided the residence Thursday and said they found the chemicals and compounds used to produce the drug. Investigators said they also found heroin, psilocybin mushrooms, and marijuana.

Vickers was charged with operating a controlled dangerous substance production facility, distribution, and possession within 1,000 feet of a school, the C.W. Lewis Middle School.

Vickers was being held in the Camden County Jail with bail set at $200,000.

DMT is derived from several plants, such as the Mimosa hostilis root bark. It is capable of inducing hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia, according to the National Institutes of Health.