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Joshua Andrew Freeman Stevens. Screengrab/Guardian
hallucinogenic drugs

British man killed in Peru 'during shamanic ceremony'

A Canadian man is being held by police.

A CANADIAN MAN is being held after a Briton was stabbed to death while the two were tripping on drugs in the Peruvian Amazon, according to authorities.

The BBC reports that British man Unais Gomes (26) was attacked during a shamanic ceremony near the city of Iquitos in Peru.

Joshua Andrew Freeman Stevens (29) was arrested following the incident. Reports state that he may have acted in self-defence.

The incident occurred during an ayahuasca ceremony on Wednesday night. It is said to have happened at Phoenix Ayahuasca, an alternative health centre in the Peruvian Amazon.

Ayahuasca is a combination of Amazonian vine and plants that contain dimethyltryptamine that gives users psychedelic experiences when taken.

According to Reuters, quoting a police chief in the region, witnesses told officers that Gomes had attacked Stevens with a knife from the kitchen of the health centre.

Gomes was then allegedly stabbed with same weapon.

The British Foreign Office confirmed to the BBC that a British national had died in Peru on Wednesday.

On its Facebook page Phoenix Ayahuasca calls itself  ”a safe and supportive place to experience plant medicines and explore the true nature of the self”.

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