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Scopolamine in Colombia
Posted on 24. Oct, 2009 by Colin in colombia
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10 Leer en espaol. UPDATE 2010 Ive heard reports of scopolamine robberies in Thailand, sex tourism capital of the world. Tweet Scopolamine, also known as Burundanga, is a powerful sedative extracted from the Brugmansia ower native to Colombia. Scopolamine is used as a central nervous system depressant to treat nausea, motion sickness, and increasingly for Parkinsons symptoms and in anesthesia. Its attracting attention for its potential in treating addiction, specically nicotine.

Scopolamine comes with a slew of side effects including dry mouth, impaired speech, amnesia, excitement and restlessness, hallucinations, and delirium. Years ago it was used to induce Twilight Sleep, which relieves pain during childbirth while keeping the patient awake. Scopolamine was studied by the Nazis and Cold War intelligence agencies as a truth drug. In rare cases scopolamine is used as a recreational drug. The chemical extract is highly toxic, so non-medical use is dangerous. The prescribed uses call for as little as 330 micrograms. Scopolamines most common use is for robbery and assault in Colombia. The extent to its damage is endemic 1 of 5 emergency room visits are due to scopolamine overdose. Organized thieves prey on unsuspecting victims by drugging them and taking advantage once theyre under the inuence. I started hearing horror stories as soon as I arrived. It makes people open to suggestion, and its amnesic effects make it easy to get away with robbery and/or rape. Some stories are ridiculous. One of those idiot chain emails forwarded around last year told a story of an American woman incapacitated and robbed by accepting a business card brushed with scopolamine. Heres Snopes debunking that nonsense. The urban legends epitomized in the popular VBS documentary, Colombian Devils Breath. After watching that documentary I was curious. My natural skeptic didnt buy it. Its true a tiny amount is enough to take effect, but I dont believe some of the reported methods of drugging victims. The most unbelievable is the taxi driver blowing it in your face, after which youre immediately in a hypnotic trance at his mercy. I also heard about people getting it into their skin from reading magazines in the back of a taxi and, most ridiculously, via ATM machine buttons. I asked some Colombians about scopolamine. Most echoed the urban legend fodder. One girl said her cousin was taking a bus from Girardot and somebody offered him a cigarette. The next thing he knew he was in a park with no money. Another told me he was drunk in a taxi. All of a sudden the driver had some thugs around the car and they beat him up and took his money. I told him he didnt get drugged and robbed. He got beat the fuck up and robbed. Thats not a scopolamine story. Here are scopolamine stories I believe: An Irish guy met a girl and they made plans to hang out. He met her and her friends at a bar. He was drinking with them and thats all he remembered. He woke up in his hotel room with nothing in his pockets. He called to bitch her out and she hung up on him. She called back a few days later, saying how insulted she was and that she would never do that. She said he left her and her friends at the bar and she didnt know where he went. He seemed to believe her story. I never saw him again, but I hope he didnt hang out with her again. I met an AA guy whos tipping point came in Medellin, after partying in a brothel and waking up the next day in a run-down motel with no money and no clothes. He tried to leave but the motel staff told him he had to pay for the room. They didnt care about his story. He had no recollection of what happened. I found a Reuters story about a Colombian woman who was found wandering topless in Bogota, asking about her baby. Police believe an infant-trafcking gang was responsible. The storys no longer on the Reuters site. I emailed Phillip Stewart on Reuters (the name on the byline) to ask if he wrote the story. His reply: I met that poor woman years ago and never forgot it. Yes I wrote it. A Canadian traveler told me a story from Medellins Parque Lleras. He and a friend were drinking beer and aguardiente with a couple Colombians they met. Once drunk his friend was put into the back of a cop car while breaking up a ght. The friend conrmed to our Canadian traveler that he saw him get into a Mercedes with the two Colombians they were drinking with. He woke up the next day in Envigado, broke. A Colombian doctor conrmed the symptoms of having taken scopolamine.

Of course theres feedback from The Mick, who spent 20+ alcoholic years in Bogota. Theres a horrible prostitution and drug zone near 7 de agosto. He says he hates those people because they always gave him scopolamine. He said hes been drugged at least 30 times. He took some heavy losses but believes scopolamine didnt affect him as much because he was such an extreme alcoholic and drug user. The rst time The Mick was scoped came soon after having a baby with his rst ex. He was on a road trip with a friend when they stopped for lunch and a drink. They dropped the baby off at a day-care and started pounding beer and aguardiente. They hopped into a taxi and The Mick clearly remembers his friend saying, Everythings gone white! Its like were in heaven! Then The Mick fell under the spell (the campesinos at the tienda drugged them.) The taxi driver kicked them out of his cab. The Mick was crawling in the street, at one point crawling under a bus. They remembered the baby and made it back to the day-care. They were stumbling while carrying the baby, and eventually made a scene in front of police. The Mick woke up in the British Embassy. Another time he was drinking hard and heavy in the Bogota streets, bouncing around various street crowds. Then he was kissing some girl. Then he woke up in his apartment wrapped in a blanket. The apartment was cleared out. He went to the police station naked. He learned the next day they rented a van to clear him out. The open-to-suggestibility aspect is the scariest. You consciously allow thieves to take everything? It seems too crazy to believe. The Mick describes the buzz as an extreme form of the ecstasy high. Youre in love with everything and everybody. Everythings peace and love. No evil. This all comes with nearly impenetrable amnesia.

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From the Crime section on the US State Departments Colombia page: Use of disabling drugs: The Embassy continues to receive reports of criminals in Colombia using disabling drugs to temporarily incapacitate tourists and others. At bars, restaurants, and other public areas, perpetrators may offer tainted drinks, cigarettes, or gum. Typically, victims become disoriented or unconscious, and are thus vulnerable to robbery, sexual assault, and other crimes. Avoid leaving food or drinks unattended at a bar or restaurant, and be suspicious if a stranger offers you something to eat or drink. Scopolamine is a risk but the urban legends are rampant. The amnesia effect adds to the myth. If nobody remembers what happened, it slows our learning how this drug is used. Anybody whos taken it doesnt know how they took because they didnt see it the obvious intent of the thieves. Some stories are silly. One says women rub it on their breasts and have guys lick them. That would render the skin-absorption through magazines or ATM buttons bullshit because the whore would get drugged. Similarly, blowing the powder at the marks face exposes the thief just as much as the mark. And if youve ever snorted coke, you know how far powder has to go to enter the bloodstream. You dont need as many micro-grains of scopolamine, but youd still have to snort it through a tube (as if mixed with cocaine). You wont catch enough molecules out of the air with a casual nasal inhale unless somebody pelts you in the face with a snowball of it. Scopolamine cases come from spiking drinks or mixing it with cocaine. And most scopolamine bandits operate in brothels, which adds to the urban legend. First, the amnesia effect completely confuses the victim as to what happened. He remembers he was at the brothel, and he knows he cant tell his wife that. He realizes he was drugged and decides to tell her one of these bullshit stories about the taxi driver blowing magic dust or

passing him a tainted copy of El Tiempo. Im convinced the urban legends are due to (A) the amnesiac effect and (B) guys lying to their wives, girlfriends, and female relatives to cover up their indiscretions. What happened to the Irish guy is as elaborate as the scams get. A gringo just arrives to Latin America. Hes still living in La Candelaria and doesnt recognize the difference in women that are easy and too easy. They lure him out to their neighborhood to drink. The bartender might be in on the operation. They slip him a mickey. Whenever they spot the effects, they get everything in his pockets and then put him in a taxi back to La Candelaria. In case he calls back, they play innocent and try to get him again. I was skeptical about the open-to-suggestibility aspect. But the VBS lm showed bank footage of a victim at the ATM fetching cash for his robbers. Plus The Micks hazy recollections of a hyper-ecstasy pill high make a strong case for how that can happen. Most Colombians havent been scoped. Almost every story Ive heard involves reckless drinking. Not just drinking, reckless drinking. Colombia can be tough on a drunk. And while stories of victims who were not drinking recklessly are rare, there are a few. (But even most of those are guys lying to females about the night they went to bang whores). Colombia is a country with abundant beauty, attraction, and romance, but it comes with an equally dangerous and bloody risk. The rose comes with thorns. The Brugmansia ower, which contains the main ingredient in scopolamine and grows wild throughout Colombia.

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Related posts: 1. Introducing The Mick SUMMARY: Introducing a new character to this blog, The Mick, who moved to Colombia in 2. 3. 4. 5.
the 80s to bring cocaine to Ireland. After four years in prison, he never went back.... Taxis in Colombia vs. Peru SUMMARY: Explaining the risks and rules of taking taxis in Colombia and Peru: Peruvian Rules, Peruvian Stories, Colombian Rules, and Colombian Stories.... The Micks Prison Murder SUMMARY: The Mick murdered a fellow inmate during his 4-year sentence in the Bogota, Colombia prison, La Modelo.... A Little Background on The Mick SUMMARY: A slew of shorts about The Mick's past, alcoholism, taste in women, slang, and stories from Bogota, Colombia.... Yaje / Ayahuasca in Colombia SUMMARY: I took ayahuasca, a spiritual hallucinogen also known as yaje, near Bogota, Colombia. This post features info on ayahuasca and my story....

Tags: bogota, brothel, cocaine, crime, debauchery, drugs, medellin, the mick, tourism

22 Responses to Scopolamine in Colombia

1. mkf
25. Oct, 2009

you know this shit needs to become a book at some point.

2. mike
26. Oct, 2009

Agreed. Dont know if your penning short stories, poems, or novels but you should. Been reading your blog for ~ 6 months now and you have such an incredible eye for wit, observation and prose. Your style reminds me of a hybrid between Hemmingway and Bukowski. Truly bold and refreshing. Keep em coming Colin. (Hopefully the Ernie/Buke comment doesnt offend.)

3. Colin
27. Oct, 2009

Thanks a lot guys, Im humbled. Actually, Ive just started writing The Micks story. Well see how it works out. Soon after publishing this post, I got this email from the Canadian Traveler: Colin, Just read the story on your webpage. Well written. The Mick describes the buzz in a way that makes me want to characterize it as an extreme form of the ecstasy high, which youre in love with everything and everybody. Everything is peace and love. No evil anywhere. You want everything to be pleasant and feel nice and it does. This all comes with an

impenetrable amnesia effect from everybody Ive talked to except fuzzy memories from The Mick. I`ve never tried ecstasy so cant compare the two but this description pretty much sums it up for me. Friends called me while I was on it (I have no memory of this) and they said I sounded like I was having a really good time. The owner of the hostel where I was staying called me and apparently I just kept saying I love you over and over to her. Anyways thanks for writing the article and hope you have a good trip there. It`s a cool city when this kindof shit doesnt happen. Take care,

4. Jan
11. Nov, 2009

You need to read this book http://www.amazon.com/One-River-Wade-Davis/dp/0684834960. Its about the travels of this ethnobotanist that researches the usage of plants and halucogenics among Colombian tribes.

5. David
29. Sep, 2010

This is good, real good. Ive been thinking of going to Colombia but heard these stories and was almost scared off. Ive been to Chile, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and even Bolivia when the government fell in 2005 with no problems. Colombia scared me to death because of the stupid legends. I dont know why it would be different than those other countries, meaning keep your wits and youll get through. Id love to email and ask you some more tips on traveling in Bogota and Colombia as a whole.

6. Aurelien Amacker
01. Nov, 2010

Man you write great stuff what a good blog article ! I am coming to Bogota in two days and as I am reading this I feel like adventure is coming up, watch out the frenchie is coming !

7. Chris Mewhort
19. Jan, 2011

Just like in your article I think most of the stories of pixie-dusting and being handed a tampered brochure come from wandering men with signicant others. When I started reading about Scopolamine for my blog post, I was really eager to nd out about it, but its true theres really not that much information online about it. Just a bunch of scare stories, lack of information on dosing/usage, and uncertain facts. Every person Ive met thats been scoped wasnt playin by the rules, so to speak. If its not a whore house, and not a BIG rail of coke, then its wreckless drinking.

8. Morton Pavelski
28. Mar, 2011

Were a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community. Your website offered us with valuable info to work on. Youve done a formidable job and our entire community will be thankful to you.

9. someoneelse
23. Jun, 2011

Interesting.. but I think this is mostly urban legends, white lies, and a vivid imagination. As you begin to say, if it really worked every spy agency and organized crime group in the world would be using it. There would be a huge and protable export business. As a criminal you would never need a gun again. Imagine the bank robberies, jail breaks, state secrets, gangs using it to kill each other. No. If it worked it would be obvious to all and not somekind of well kept secret. I cant imagine this being any worse than any other date rape drug.

10.

andres
27. Jul, 2011

For those that think this is all urban legend, unfortunately it is very real. I just got off the phone with my uncle who lives in Bogota and he told me that my aunt was walking with a friend in a nice part of Bogota and someone came up to them and blew scopolamine in her face in a robbery (and who knows what else) attempt. They were unsuccessful as she was with her friend but he went on to tell me she stayed in the hospital for 3 days. He said she didnt recognize him, her daughters or grand kids and it was well basically terrifying. He went on to say that things in Bogota seem to be getting worse and worse due to the super high rate of unemployment.

11. Matt L
28. Oct, 2011

Ive been around the world, been to many different countries. I think people here these stories and some just get propelled into wild stories rather than cautionary tales. Im not that tall, but taller than most people in the 3rd world, and Im pasty white, so I stand out. Havent been robbed ever. The police in Tijuana once tried to stop me for jaywalkingbut the joke was on them. I already blew all my money at the whore house. Not to say I havent drank recklessly over seas before, but I agree with you. You can get shit faced sloppy drunk in NYC, LA, San Diego, Seattle and wake up with your money and wallet gone. Doesnt take much for someone to snatch your shit. Ive been lucky thus far, and have had some awesome friends when I decided to hit that rum bottle too many times. Ive never heard of this substance before, but if what you say is true about the Nazis and what have you, then Im inclined to believe it isnt much of a threat. How ever getting drunk with a pretty girl, buying drinks, and bar hopping with said broad only to realize youve spent all your money is a real threat.

12. blythe
23. Aug, 2012

Apparently they bleach it so they can cut it with coke and make it harder to tell!

13. John

03. Dec, 2012

Colin or anybody any idea how I can acquire this stuff?

14. Dogitalpimp
22. Jan, 2013

How much powder of this is required for total control of the subjects mind . Without killing him ?

15. Digitalpimp
26. Jan, 2013

First of all ,your article is full of bullshit coy paste . Second of all HOW can all of you be commenting on a drug that hasent been studied yet . Stop saying bullshiet Order the drug via internet (if you didnt know theres a market for every drug on the world shipped to your house via mail) . Im getting some monday . Ill post real fucking information about it . Suckers scared money dont make no money

16. tiluwead8pro
13. Feb, 2013

The drug works in a way that a victims lose their short term memory so you can persuade them into doing things by saying the request over and again, it is actually very hard to do this as you need to know how big of a dose on the weight of the person and if the dose is off you can either kill a person or have no effect at all It is well known that in Bogota,Columbia every few emergency cases in hospitals are scopolamine related Scopolamine is known to some of the doctors who are treating trauma patients with this substance to

relieve them of memories that trigger the post traumatic stress,it is very unpredictable with endless side effects

17. John
27. Feb, 2013

Hey man are you going to make a . I was just Reading some articles about Scopolamine in web,and i have to say that some of these guys who leave some infos here,guese just are dreamer or even wanna be kind of(hey read my article cause i know very well about the subject:-) In fact i have to say these guys just know a shit about,as tiluwead8pro,mentioned above,rst you have to know if you have the right doses,for the same important reasons as was told here (no need to repeat) secoundly just tell me please if some one was blowing in the face of some one(you littel grain of shit how does it come that the actor here was not effected by himself are you gooing to fool People or you SOAB are fool by yourself???You MF!!!! as i said i do know nothing about it except what i read here and the documentary lm which i am not sure any more if is really based on fact,also in this lm was mentioned as far as i remember that the freaky guy said that after you have the seed it shall be handle chemicaly in Laboratory,which means to me if you want to have scopolamine in 95-99% pure form maybe is just to use as a fertilizer nothing more and for this usage i can tell you where you can buy it from min 5 mg to seriosly 5 tones monthly delivery,this is no joak,so it means to me what we may hear or read & wish to have might be fully different subjects and i ask these kind of adventurer here make rst sure which is which then Write Your infos and not only describe Your dreams.

18. Michael Fumento

01. Mar, 2013

I thought it was pretty much an urban legend. Guys getting drunk and blaming it on a drug. Found out differently when I was drugged not in a bar but my own Medellin apartment and I KNOW I had less than a glass of wine. They pretty much cleared me out. That said Im sure a lot of the stories are as imagined. Guys getting drunk. The ip side is all the BS about it being the most dangerous drug in the world, people doing incredible things under the inuence. Theres a Youtube video on this thats nonsense from start to nish. Fact is it leaves you pretty much immobile for maybe 14 hours. You have an idea of whats going on but cant do anything about it. Some lapses of consciousness. And It IS common in Colombia. The bad is bad enough without exaggeration.

19. Keith
05. Mar, 2013

Not urban myth. I was alone in Cartagena on Feb 15, 2013 at Studio 54, a discotheque, talking to someone I had met there. They put something in my drink to drug me. The next thing I remember was waking up in my apartment at noon the next day. The person had taken me to my apartment, convinced me to open the safe, took the $500 that was there and my ATM and credit card. He then took me to the ATM machine where he got me to tell him my PIN and he removed $700 from my checking account. He also took my cell phone. I was lucky because he must have been a professional thief as the amount of scopolamine that he gave me left me consciousbecause he needed me awake to go to the ATM machine. He left me after getting the cash from the ATM and I managed to get home and passed out in my clothes on the bed. Luckily my apartment was not far from the ATM machine. I had total amnesia-and didnt know how I got from the discotheque to the apartment or if I had come alone or with someone. Thanks to the security cameras at the building I could tell that he came in with me and left with me and then I came back alone. The rest I had to piece together. I found the safe locked, but the cash and ATM card inside were gone. My bank account online reected the withdrawals and he kept my ATM and credit card. I was able to cancel both the ATM and credit card so no further withdrawals could be made, but he did use the card as a debit card in Barranquilla before I woke up at noon and canceled the card for 3 small purchases. I was not drunk and even if I were drunk you cant convince me to tell you my ATM PIN. I also have never experienced amnesia from drinking. No doubt in my mind that this was scopolamine. I was lucky because an overdose can kill you and most people end up in the hospital for a couple days. Most people are given the drug to make them unconscious so that they can be robbed. My thief wanted my ATM account, too. I talked to some Colombians who said the blowing smoke is not an urban myth. It happened to his girlfriend in a taxi in Medellin. She was able to get out of the taxi and call friends who came to get her. She ended up in the hospital. Colombians dont go out to bars and discotheques alonenor should you. Go with a friend or dont go. Be aware of the drug, but it is so easy to administer that if they want to give it to you they probably can. Thats why going with friends is the best option. I wouldnt have believed I could be convinced to provide my bank PIN if it hadnt happened to me personally.

20.

Robert Jorge
06. Mar, 2013

I am not dismissing that escopalamine is used by crooks, but I would wager the majority of the incidents blamed on scope are actually Rivotril given to an already drunk victim. At least in Medellin, Rivotril, called pepas, is as common as cigarettes. I would wager 75% of hookers take them regularly, and thus know what they can do to an already drunk John. The affects/symptoms of Rivotril on a drunk are virtually identical to what people describe being scoped is like.

21. Brando
08. Nov, 2013

I have been hit with this drug 2 times for sure and for me it affects me very bad. The rst time I was with 2 women working girls in Medellin was a having a very very very nice time drinking hot water, beer, and snifng until something did not feel right. I ran out of the hotel totally freaked out with no shoes or bags. It took 12 hours to wear off and i was sick for 2 days after I must have drank 50 bottles of water in 3 days. The second time just happened again in Cartagena 11-3-2013 was snifng again and my friend ran off with this girl so i was looking for a girl as well unfortunately I meet some thugs and sniffed with them like a fool and the third sniff they hit me.. If this happens to you just get back to your hotel asap and drink lots of water and get out of the street as soon as possible. It will wear off you just have to ride it out. Yes I felt like going to the hospital but I managed. I was asking for trouble each time it happened so I dont blame it on no one. But if you run around Colombia drunk and alone at night looking for something you might very well nd this.

22. Fernando
17. Dec, 2013

Why use a rare and dangerous drug (psychoactive and lethal doses are really near) like scopolamine, when they can use more popular and available Rohypnol AKA Rooes, the well known rape drug? BTW, powder or spray insufation is a bad, bad, route of administration, as the author explains.

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