Woman who launched 'spiritual health' firm with David Beckham's former bodyguard shortly before he was found dead in a Spanish park is arrested for 'providing hallucinogenic drugs' near Benidorm
Ex-Royal Marine Craig Ainsworth, was found lifeless in a park near Valencia in April after he had been promoting a new business venture offering spiritual retreats using psychedelic jungle drugs.
The 40-year-old former bodyguard and soldier originally from London had co-founded the business with his Polish business partner Klaudia Geurts.
Now it has emerged that Ms Geurts, a nutritionist and mother-of-two, has been arrested as part of a crackdown on drugs in Spain after it was alleged she had charged hundreds of customers £1,000 a time to take hallucinogenic drugs while on spiritual health retreats.
The Polish business woman has repeatedly boasted online of working with the plant-based ayahuasca drug and kambo, a toxin taken from Amazonian frogs, both popular with celebrities
Ms Geurts and two men aged 42 and 51 were held as part of a police crackdown on her organisation that detectives say was 'promoting the consumption of drugs' at spiritual retreats in Spain.
The Civil Guard released video footage showing heavily armed officers storming the retreat which Ms Geurts was running in Pedreguer, just north of Benidorm.
It's believed the business that has been raided, called OMMIJ, was different to the one she had launched with Craig Ainsworth before his death - but had similar working practices.
Craig's body was found on April 5 at a park in Lliria, a town off the CV35 motorway to the north of Valencia, following an agonising 'Goodbye' message he posted on social media which sparked an urgent SOS appeal for information about the war veteran from his mum Sally.
Police later said they were not treating his death as suspicious.
Craig, from Enfield, had first revealed in January that he had partnered with Alicante-based blonde fitness nutrition specialist Ms Geurts through his long-standing coaching programme Virtuous Savage.
And when he became interested in hallucinogenic practices he called the new spin-off business Virtual Quest.
Mr Ainsworth, who had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Afghanistan, had been open about the nature of his new business in the weeks leading up to his death.
He wrote on January 15 on Facebook: 'Tomorrow I am off to trial our new retreat. Sounds weird right.
'However, a legendary team reached out to partner with Virtuous Savage and create a whole new level of support to those who want to truly get to know themselves through the magic of plant medicine.
'I'll be documenting my entire weekend of kambo, ayahuasca, and guidance. I cannot wait as I've heard about and witnessed the benefits but now it's my turn. Stay tuned for genuine adventure.'
The Virtuous Quest co-founders described their retreats as 'carefully crafted to offer a safe, supportive, and loving space.'
Confirming the arrests, the Civil Guard in Alicante said: 'Three people have been arrested and another five placed under formal investigation, accused of belonging to a company that promoted the consumption of drugs, announcing over the Internet stays at a spiritual retreat at a villa in Pedreguer.
'They are being investigated on suspicion of the crimes of drug trafficking, money laundering and membership of a criminal gang.'
'Two searches have taken place at two properties in a rural area of the municipality in which officers have seized 11 litres of ayahuasca ready to be consumed; 117 San Pedro cactuses; several bottles of Kambo derived from frog secretions; seven kilograms of the cannabis strain Mimosa; 360 kilograms of the Harmal plant and 945 Ritalin pills.'
Claiming clients from across Europe paid more than €1,000 for 'all-inclusive' spiritual retreat stays, the force added: 'Over the last year alone, the group allegedly charged customers hundreds of thousands of euros, received mostly in cash which it didn't declare and tried to avoid leaving traces of through a large number of bank accounts in different countries.'
Sixteen paying customers were staying at one of the properties when police went in, it was said.
The Civil Guard said today in a lengthy statement the 'home lab' where the brews they drank to enjoy 'out-of-body experiences' were prepared, was 'rudimentary and unhygienic'.
The three people arrested were not named in the statement the police force put out but were described as the alleged 'ringleaders of the group and company administrators' who 'publicised its services, financially managed it and prepared the substances that were consumed.'
Local reports citing police sources said over the past few years it had received more than 60,000 fee-paying customers around the world.'
The organisation that police said today they had 'dismantled' is another Ms Geurts had allegedly participated in.
It has since posted on its website that it is fighting 'false accusations' and denied it works with any illegal substances.
OMMIJ, which describes itself on its website as a 'tribe of dreamers and doers' has admitted to receiving a 'visit' from the Civil Guard at its retreat centre.
It added: 'This was the result of ongoing false accusations made against us by a Dutch individual determined to disrupt the harmony and healing we so deeply cherish and cultivate within our community.
'After the visit from the Civil Guard, and despite the complexity of the legal landscape around plant-based medicines, we remain confident that our work does not involve any illegal substances, a view we share with our legal team and which we hope will be confirmed in due course through the appropriate judicial channels.
'However, until the judicial process fully clarifies the situation, and with a resolution expected soon, we have decided out of responsibility and in close coordination with our legal team, to temporarily pause our retreats in both Spain and Holland.'
The long statement ended with the message: 'Together we await the dawn of a beautiful new chapter, one filled with renewed strength, clarity and purpose.'
There is no suggestion Mr Ainsworth played any active part in the organisation. Police could not confirm today if the location of the 'new retreat' he announced online in January was one of the places searched as part of Operation Hippyasca.
Craig worked for the Beckhams from 2013 to 2015 when they lived in West London. He has also protected A-listers including Johnny Depp, Jennifer Lawrence and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Klaudia was among those who responded to the ex-bodyguard's 'goodbye' message by urgently seeking information from worried well-wishers about updates on whether he had been located before his body was discovered.
Prince Harry confessed to doing ayahuasca in a March 2023 interview claiming it had helped him cope with the death of Princess Diana.
The three Costa Blanca arrests took place on July 18 but have only just been made public.
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It added: 'This was the result of ongoing false accusations made against us by a Dutch individual determined to disrupt the harmony and healing we so deeply cherish and cultivate within our community. 'After the visit from the Civil Guard, and despite the complexity of the legal landscape around plant-based medicines, we remain confident that our work does not involve any illegal substances, a view we share with our legal team and which we hope will be confirmed in due course through the appropriate judicial channels. 'However, until the judicial process fully clarifies the situation, and with a resolution expected soon, we have decided out of responsibility and in close coordination with our legal team, to temporarily pause our retreats in both Spain and Holland.' The long statement ended with the message: 'Together we await the dawn of a beautiful new chapter, one filled with renewed strength, clarity and purpose.' 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