Claim:   Criminals in the U.S. are using burundanga-soaked business cards to incapacitate their victims.

Status:   False.

Examples:

[Collected via e-mail, May 2008] And Another Warning . . . Last Wednesday, Jaime Rodriguez's neighbor was at a gas station in Katy. A man came and offered his neighbor his services as a painter and gave her a card. She took the card and got in her car. The man got into a car driven by another person. She left the station and noticed that the men were leaving the gas station at the same time. Almost immediately, she started to feel dizzy and could not catch her breath. She tried to open the windows and in that moment she realized that there was a strong odor from the card. She also realized that the men were following her. The neighbor went to another neighbor's house and honked on her horn to ask for help. The men left, but the victim felt bad for several minutes. Apparently there was a substance on the card, the substance was very strong and may have seriously injured her. Jaime checked the Internet and there is a drug called "Burundanga" that is used by some people to incapacitate a victim in order to steal or take advantage of them. Please be careful and do not accept anything from unknown people on the street.   [Collected via e-mail, September 2008] Incident has been confirmed. In Katy, Tx 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 man. As the lady left the service station and 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 man 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 to ask for help. The men drove away but the lady still felt pretty bad for several minutes after she could finally catch her breath. Apparently there was a substance on the card and could have seriously injured her. The drug is called 'BURUNDANGA' and it is used by people who wish to incapacitate a victim in order to steal or take advantage of them. Four times greater than date rape drug; and is transferable on simple cards. So take heed and make sure you don't accept cards at any given time alone or from someone on the street. This applies to those making house calls and slipping you a card when they offer their services.

Variations:   An October 2008 version of the e-mail that omits all references to "Katy, Tx" or "Katy" and contains the signature block of an officer with the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections appears to place the incident in Louisville, Kentucky.

Another October 2008 version that similarly leaves off all references to Katy contains the signature block of someone who works in the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, which likewise makes it appear the incident happened in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Origins:   While some of the copies of this e-mailed alert indicate that its "last Wednesday" refers to 16 April 2008, our first sighting of the piece was in early May 2008. There's precious little in the tale on which to base any sort of search and thus begin the process of vetting or disproving its claims: the woman reported to have been drugged is identified only as "Jaime Rodriguez's neighbor" rather than by her own name, thereby making the task of finding that person next to impossible; the attack supposedly happened "at a gas station in Katy," with no indication of the type of station (Shell, Chevron, etc.) or its address. Indeed, even the question of which Katy is left open (we know of one in Texas and one in Missouri, and there may well be others). What can be said with certainty, however, is that reports are not showing up in the news of the day of people experiencing dizziness after being handed odd-smelling business cards by strangers, at gas stations or elsewhere.

The account speculates the business card passed to the woman at the gas station had been imbued with burundanga, an extract of the datura plant which contains alkaloids such as scopolamine and atropine and which hails from Colombia. However, burundanga has no scent (or flavor), so even a card saturated with it wouldn't be described as producing a "strong odor." As well, this drug needs to be swallowed or inhaled if it is to have the effect described here; mere incidental tactile contact with an item permeated by it wouldn't deliver a sufficient quantity to the intended victim's system.

As to how to regard this particular yarn about men at a gas station handing out funny-smelling business cards that present them as painters but which in reality make those they're handed to dizzy and thus at the mercy of the men looking to take advantage of them, consider that it's an untraceable, third-hand account of what supposedly happened to an unnamed woman. (The e-mail's writer got the story from "Jaime Rodriguez," who it turn got it from the neighbor made dizzy by the card.) Given that burundanga can't be introduced into a victim the way this tale would have it and that no one else has reported similar encounters, we have to say it's false.

The alkaloids contained in burundanga (scopolamine and atropine) are powerful toxins that at lower doses produce dry mouth, dizziness, sweating, and blurred vision, but at high doses can cause delirium and unconsciousness. Scopolamine has some legal medical applications, including its use as a treatment for Parkinson's disease, as a sedative, and as a motion sickness preventive.

Burundanga is said to render its ingesters into disoriented zombies (awake and talkative but powerless to resist orders) and is believed to be used by robbers and rapists in Colombia to render potential victims tractable. It is sometimes termed a "zombie powder" and is regarded as a date rape drug. At higher doses, the drug can cause disorientation, memory loss, hallucinations, and convulsion, and its effects can last for days. Burundanga-drugged victims have reportedly been found days after they've gone missing, wandering aimlessly with no clear idea of what happened to them. Those under its influence have been known to empty their bank accounts, and even to act as drug mules. Typically, the drug is slipped into the food or drink of intended victims, or is packed into cigarettes or sticks of gum which are then offered to the targets.

There is controversy as to how much of their free will victims ultimately surrender under the drug's sway. While there is little dispute that datura alkaloids do cause significant disorientation, there are those who believe burundanga's supposed "brainwashing" effects are better understood in terms of disinhibition which causes people to act in ways they later regret.

The U.S. State Department's information about Colombia has for years cautioned travelers about such drugs. Its 21 June 2007 travel advisory about crime in that country said:

The Embassy continues to receive reports of criminals 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.

While burundanga is a frightening drug, in all our searching for information on it we failed to come across news articles about its being used in the U.S. Regions in and around the country of Colombia appear to be its hunting grounds.

Barbara "limited influence" Mikkelson

Last updated:   8 October 2008

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  Sources:

    Carpenter, John.   "Another 'Date Rape' Drug Cause for Warning."

    Chicago Sun-Times.   10 January 1999   (p. 14).

    de Cordoba, Jose.   "Drugged in Columbia: Street Thugs Dope Unwitting Victims."

    Wall Street Journal.   3 July 1995   (p. A1).

    Johnson, Tim.   "Zombie Powder Is New Colombian National Drug Problem."

    The Miami Herald.   7 February 2000.

    Torchia, Chris.   "Victims of Colombian Muggers' Drug Don't Know What Hit Them."

    Associated Press.   26 August 1994.