All About Devil's Breath, The Drug That Can Turn Healthy People Into Zombies
It Looks Almost Exactly Like Cocaine, But It's 10 Times Deadlier
Photo: Davidfernandocoronel / Wikimedia CommonsA gram of scopolamine is almost identical to a gram of cocaine. Same look, same weight, same density. One significant difference is that to overdose on cocaine, you need around around 100mg per person, whereas for Devil's Breath, 100mg could kill 10 people. After selling some to a pair of Vice journalists, a Colombian drug dealer said, “This stuff only has 3 uses. To rob, to study, or to kill. It’s the transmitter of poison. It’s like anthrax. It’s worse than anthrax."
It Completely Eliminates Your Free Will
Photo: Salicyna / Wikimedia CommonsScopolamine leaves its victims completely conscious and articulate, but at the whim of suggestions. It entirely eliminates their free will while leaving their actions unhindered. To observers, everything seems totally normal, but the victim is basically under hypnosis and will have no memory of the event when the drug wears off.
People Use It To Rob Victims
Captain Romero Mendoza of the Bogota City Police Department told journalists that "Burundanga Gangs" often use beautiful women as bait to lure men at nightclubs into a scopolamine trap. Then, the drugged victim drives the gang members to an ATM, where they willfully withdraw and hand over all of their money. Oftentimes, the victims are "kidnapped," although they're not exactly taken against their will, so it can be difficult to prosecute.
Ivan Gomez, a victim of a scopolamine attack, describes his hellish experience: "We started drinking and dancing. It was all very normal, very healthy. What happened after that? I don’t know what happened. I have no explanation.” The next day, he woke up on a park bench badly beaten. They took money out of his bank account and cash advances on all of his credit cards, totaling almost 6 million pesos. When he asked the bank about the incident, they showed him a video of himself walking in alone and withdrawing the money while two people waited just out of view of the cameras.
The Nazis Used It As A Truth Serum
Photo: Unknown / Wikimedia CommonsJosef Mengele, the "Nazi Angel of Death," was notorious for importing scopolamine from Colombia to Germany during the 1930s and '40s for horrifying experiments during the war. Primarily, it was used as a truth serum during interrogations, but who knows what sort of sick things he could have done to the victims while they were robbed of their free will.
It's Dirt Cheap
Photo: Jorge Láscar / Wikimedia CommonsAccording to a Colombian drug dealer from a Vice documentary, a lethal dose of Devil's Breath costs about 50 Colombian pesos. That's approximately the equivalent to an American penny.
The CIA Used It During Project MK Ultra
Photo: Duffman / Wikimedia CommonsDuring the Cold War in the 1960s, the CIA started working on Project MK ULTRA, which was essentially a mind control program. They tried a lot of different ways to control people's minds, resulting in disturbing and sadistic experiments. One such method of "research" was simply drugging the "patient" with things like heroin, morphine, and scopolamine.
Ancient Colombians Used It To Kill Their Mistresses
Photo: Tanenhaus / Wikimedia CommonsWhen an ancient Colombian chief died, all of their wives and mistresses were killed as well. To accomplish this, the tribe would use Devil's Breath to hypnotize the women, lead them to open graves, and simply bury them alive - all while the victims were conscious and willful.
Small Doses Are Used In Modern Medicine
Photo: National Aeronautics and Space Administration / Wikimedia CommonsScopolamine is actually used it medicines relatively frequently. Often times, it's used in extremely small doses to combat severe motion sickness, like that experienced by astronauts or deep sea scuba divers. It is also used to calm severe nausea and gastrointestinal spasms.
It's Super Common In Colombia
Photo: K. Ghosh ThaumaturgistColombia is a hotbed for criminal activity. One third of all kidnappings in the world happen there and it's the cocaine capital of the planet. While filming a documentary on the subject, Vice reporters found a wild borrachero tree growing in the city. Their drug dealer shook down a single fruit and scored them "enough for 10 or 12 people to trip on,” and followed up by saying, “Kids go to kindergarten right around the corner! F*ck! Welcome to 'Locombia'!"
Scopolamine Can Be Taken In The Form Of A Powder, A Patch, Or Even Tea
Photo: congerdesign / PixabayScopolamine can be administered by mouth, by an IV, through a patch, by a needle, or even through the eyes. The flowers and root of the borrachero tree can be mixed into tea to create psychedelic hallucinations. More commonly, however, the seeds of the borrachero tree are ground up into a fine powder, which is used to quickly and quietly control victims by forcing them to breath it in without even knowing.
Doctors Say It's The Perfect Substance For Criminals
Photo: Ventasbioeco / Wikimedia CommonsDr. Miriam Gutierez is a Colombian Toxicologist who researches scopolamine. She states:
“From a medical point of view, it’s the perfect substance for criminal acts because the victim won’t remember anything, when they wake up and realize they’ve been robbed, they won’t realize they collaborated in that. This substance has the ability to “hypnotize” the patient.”