Yikes: Canadian kills Briton in Peru after drinking ayahuasca

LIMA, Peru – A Canadian stabbed a British man to death during a row at a hostel in Peru after drinking ayahuasca, the powerfully psychedelic South American brew, police told AFP Thursday.

The killing took place on Wednesday in a village near the Amazon city of Iquitos during a shamanic ceremony for tourists that included drinking the hallucinogenic tea that is embraced by advocates as a spirit cure.

The men, who have not been named, had both consumed the drink and after a heated argument the Briton attacked the Canadian, according to preliminary investigations.

The Canadian, 26, grabbed a knife and stabbed his victim to death.

The Briton was rushed to hospital but could not be saved and the Canadian is in police custody.

The Tico Times recently visited Iquitos to cover the increasingly popular ayahuasca tourism route in the Amazon. Read that story here.