Myth Blaster: Police Warning of Drug Laced Business Cards

Reader sent me a chain email that concerned a calling card laced with substance entitled Police Warning …

THIS CAN BE CHECKED OUT WITH WWW.SNOPES.COM

 PLEASE READ THIS AND FORWARD IT TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

POLICE WARNING-Send to EVERYONE! There are some sick people out

There — that’s for sure!

A man came over and offered his services as a painter to a female Putting gas in her car and left his card. She said no but accepted his Card out of kindness and got in the car. The man then got into a car Driven by another gentleman. As the lady left the service station she Saw the men following her out of the station at the same time. Almost immediately she started to feel dizzy and could not catch her Breath. She tried to open the window and realized that the odor was on her Hand the same hand which accepted the card from the gentleman at the gas station. She then noticed the men were immediately behind her and she felt she Needed to do something at that moment. She drove into the first driveway And  began to honk her horn repeatedly to ask for help. The men drove away but the lady still felt pretty bad for several Minutes before she could finally catch her breath. Apparently there was a substance on the card that could have seriously Injured her. This drug is called ‘BURUNDANGA’ and it is used by people who wish to Incapacitate a victim in order to steal from or take advantage of them. This drug is four times dangerous than the date rape drug and is Transferable onto simple cards. So take heed and make sure you don’t accept cards at any time you Are alone or from someone on the streets. This applies to those making house calls and slipping you a card when they offer their services. PLEASE SEND THIS E-MAIL ALERT TO EVERY FEMALE YOU KNOW!!!!

Sgt. Gregory L. Joyner Internal Affairs Unit Louisville Metro Department of Corrections 400 South 6th Street Louisville, KY  40202

MYTH BLASTER VERDICT –

Hoax.

This person who sent this is slick – they are counting that just because you see at the beginning of the chain email the link to Snopes you won’t bother to check it out. The link leads to Snopes’ main index page. Snopes determined it to be false and provides a concise, detailed analysis. There are apparently variants of this story-hoax. Checking out the Snopes, Urban Legends, and Hoax Slayer postings, I came up with this researched material.

First, the existence of the drug called burundanga is correct. It’s medical name  is Scopolamine, and according to Earth Operations Central and the Medical Dictionary, it is sometimes used as a pre-surgical drug for the purpose of impairing the memory of surgical trauma.

According to a Wall Street Journal dated July 3^rd 1995:

Burundanga is a kind of voodoo powder obtained from a Colombian local plant of the nightshade family, a shrub called barrachera, or “drunken binge”. Used for hundreds of years by Native Americans in religious ceremonies, the powder when ingested causes victims to lose their will and memory, sometimes for days. (This drug is also known as Nightshade or “CIA drugs”). When refined the powder yields scopolamine, a well-known drug with legitimate uses as a sedative and to combat motion sickness. (Mengele of Nazi fame also had and experimented with scopolamine as a truth serum). But in Colombia, the drug’s most avid fans are street criminals. Crooks mix the powder with sedatives and feed the Burundanga cocktail to unsuspecting victims whom they then proceed to rob – or worse. … 

The victim can’t say no; he has no will and becomes very open to suggestion. It’s like CHEMICAL HYPNOTISM,” says Dr. Uribe. … Camilo Uribe is often called by companies and embassies to talk about the perils of Burundanga.

This, according to Hoax Slayer is unsubstantiated. However, Forensic consultant Stephen M. Pittel, PhD wrote in his article Burundanga – The Next Columbian Drug Threat …

Recent reports of date-rapes, thefts, kidnapping and other crimes in the U.S. and Canada have been attributed to Burundanga – a potent form of scopolamine that has been used for decades in Columbia in native rituals, as a weapon and by criminals who prey on tourists. The Wall Street Journal reported in 1995 that the use of Burandanga was increasing rapidly as the favored method of assault by immigrant Columbian criminal gangs in the U.S. who now also use it as a major form of currency. …

Wikipedia has a good entry in explaining about the drug and its history.