Devil's Breath | Is Scopolamine the World's Scariest Drug?

By now, you’ve heard the stories about tourists getting drugged and robbed in Colombia.

Although this has been happening for decades, these reports now seem uncomfortably common; it’s almost as though every few weeks something appears on Twitter, an online periodical, or travel forum about an unlucky tourist in Medellín or Bogotá whose been a victim of scopolamine.

But what exactly is this mysterious drug and to what extent should you be worried about it?

After spending years in Colombia, I am here to break it down.

What is Scopolamine?

Scopolamine (also known as “devil’s breath”) is a tropane alkaloid derived from plants of the nightshade family. Since these plants are commonly found near Bogotá and in the Colombian departments of Atlántico and Magdalena, it’s no surprise that most incidences of scopolamine poisoning occur in Colombia.

The drug has quite a history to it!

Rumor has it that 16th century witches used scopolamine in their potions .
There is also recent evidence of scopolamine use during Bronze Age ceremonies .
It was first written about in the late 1800s and was used for anesthesia around 1900.
During both WWII and the Cold War, US intelligence used scopolamine on suspected spies, hoping it would act as a truth serum (it ultimately proved ineffective).

These days? Well, its primary use is not actually to drug unsuspecting gringos, but rather medicinal; it’s administered mainly in the form of tablets to reduce symptoms of nausea, vomiting, motion sickness and sea sickness.

So far, it doesn’t sound too bad, right?

Well, the difference between a good medicine and a poison is the dosage.

How Does The Drug Work?

While in low doses scopolamine can be an effective treatment for nausea, in higher doses it induces a hallucinogenic effect.

But, unlike some of the more pleasant hallucinogens you may or may not be familiar with, scopolamine doesn’t come with many positives.

Victims are likely to experience the following:

Confusion: Scopolamine disrupts the processing of sensory information, which causes victims to be unable to fully comprehend their surroundings, concentrate or think clearly.
Memory Loss: Scopolamine blocks a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which is related to memory formation. This is why many victims can’t remember most of the events that occurred after their drugging.
Sedation: Scopolamine sedates the central nervous system, which makes the victim less alert and less responsive to their surroundings. This sedation causes many victims to fall into a deep, long sleep while under its effects.
Behavioral Changes: The drug’s sedative effect makes those under its influence appear passive or subdued. While rumors of it acting as a kind of ‘truth serum’ are overstated, it’s likely that someone under the influence of scopolamine will be more compliant and vulnerable to forms of coercion.

With these effects, it’s not difficult to see why it’s become popular among criminals – an individual under the influence of scopolamine isn’t going to be able to put up a fight or easily notice if he’s been robbed.

Since the drug typically takes 30 minutes to 2 hours to take effect and lasts for several hours, it also gives criminals plenty of time to work with.

Now, there are a few ways that criminals might go about robbing you after drugging you.

The first and probably least nefarious is to rob you in a public place and simply make off with your phone and wallet after you’ve been drugged.

Since the symptoms of scopolamine can easily be mistaken as symptoms of drunkenness, it wouldn’t be all that hard for that Tinder date of yours to make a plausible escape. Even if someone does notice something is off, unfortunately, good Samaritans are few and far between these days.

Another way would be to drug you in a public place before escorting you to a private place to rob you, such as a vehicle. This appears to be the case in two of the examples I’ll discuss in the next section of the article.

A third way would occur in your place of residence. You invite a girl over. Have a few drinks; feel a bit more tipsy than you think you should…then you awake several hours later and the girl is gone and so is all your stuff!

P.S: Find more information about scopolamine here.

Some Harrowing Tales of its Victims…

Here’s an account of two US soldiers who were drugged in Bogotá in 2020, as stated in Yahoo News.

Three Colombian nationals are now facing federal charges in Miami after this incident.

According to Colombian National Police, here’s what happened: Video surveillance showed that Arango and Uribe arrived at the pub after 11 p.m., when the two U.S. soldiers were already there. The Colombian couple approached two soldiers a few times inside the bar, the footage showed. After 2 a.m., they all left together — but the soldiers were feeling the effects of the tranquilizers slipped into their drinks.

They “were stumbling and having difficulty keeping their balance,” according to the FBI affidavit. The Colombian couple dragged them into an awaiting Renault, and they took their wallets, money and cell phones, obtaining the pin number for one of the victim’s debit cards and the other’s credit card. After making a few ATM and card transactions, one of the soldiers was left stranded on the street and the other somehow returned to his apartment in Bogota.

Here’s a first-hand account from April 2023 of a tourist who was drugged in Cartagena.

From his blog :

I took her to Plaza Majagua Restaurante, Cartagena, pictured above, only at night, all those tables are full, and there are street performers and crowds. The place was buzzing, a hive of activity. We sat at a table outside and had waitperson service, and I ordered two Sangria.

Everything was going swimmingly until I went to the toilet inside the restaurant, stupidly leaving a half-empty sangria on our table.

I returned and finished the drink and promptly ordered another sangria for us. The waiter brought them and we chatted pleasantly through the translator app while watching the street performers and salsa dancing before us. My last memory was thinking:

“Wow, I feel pretty tipsy for only two drinks…”

Worst day of my life

My consciousness came back as I was in a horse carriage. And I don’t mean I woke up, but this is my first memory. What’s more, I was wearing nothing but my underwear and had nothing else on me. Not my phone, wallet, or shoes… at least they were kind enough to let me keep my undies on!

Everything was a little hazy at this point. Your memory comes back in stages, not all at once. And to say I was disorientated is a significant understatement. I vaguely remember some other people in the horse carriage asking me who I was and I couldn’t tell them my name—yeah, seriously fucked up!

The next memory I have is in the back of a taxi, trying to give directions to my Airbnb to the taxi driver. I had absolutely nothing on me, including no money to pay him. It wasn’t until later that I learned he got me home safe, and I paid the good Samaritan back his taxi fare.

Here’s a story that received international press. An American named Paul Nguyen died after being drugged with scopolamine upon meeting a girl through an online dating application in Medellín.

Here’s the report from The Daily Beast:

The waiter said that the last time he saw Paul, he and María were getting into a car. His credit card was used multiple times at an ATM during the night, and $500 was sent via Paypal to a woman named Natalia Andrea Arias at around five a.m., Vice News reported.

His body was found just hours later, about five miles from his last known location. El Universo newspaper quoted Nguyen’s family as stating he had been robbed and poisoned.

According to the Medellín resident, who stayed in touch with police after sharing the information he had gathered in his search for Nyugen, the Californian died of an overdose of the knockout drug scopolamine, also known as “Devil’s Breath.”

Finally, I will leave you with one last story in the form of a screenshot, from an AP news article from Bogotá in 1994.

This one needs no introduction:

How Common Is Scopolamine Poisoning?

It’s reported that 50,000 scopolamine related incidents in Colombia take place each year, and about 20 percent of hospital admissions for poisoning in Bogotá are thanks to scopolamine or benzodiazepines

However, the key word here is reported – in reality, the true number is much higher.

There are a few reasons one might not report this crime.

First, if the individual was doing something naughty that they’d rather keep secret (hanging out with prostitutes, for instance).

Second, since memory loss is a symptom of scopolamine, the victim simply may not remember details of the incident and therefore have nothing substantial to report to police.

Finally, others may not bother to report the crime to local authorities because they assume it’s futile: nothing will be done (they’re likely correct).

It’s also important to note that not all drugging that occurs in this country is scopolamine-related.

Criminals will often use benzodiazepine drugs such as Valium or Xanax to sedate their victims. In reality, this is probably a more common choice, as benzos are usually cheaper and easier to obtain.

But, at the end of the day, it’s difficult to say just how common scopolamine poisoning is because the statistics are unreliable.

If we take the numbers at face value (50,000 people/year) that’s less than 1 in 1000 people who are getting drugged (Colombia’s population is a little over 50,000,000).

However, if we assume half the cases aren’t being reported, that’s 1 in 500, and all of a sudden things start to look a bit more concerning.

That said, the numbers are still on your side.

Chances are, if you go to Colombia for a vacation, you’re not going to get scoped.

You’re even less likely to if you avoid certain areas.

Less talk about some of those areas right now!

What Areas are Most at Risk?

In fairness to Colombia, it’s not the only country that poses a risk for scopolamine; there have been several reports of the drug’s use in Ecuador as well.

That said, the overwhelming majority of cases occur in Colombia, so we’re going to focus our attention there.

Logically, Colombia’s largest cities present the highest scopolamine risks, i.e., Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali.

There have also been reports coming out of Cartagena, likely because it’s a popular tourist destination and tourists tend to be pretty good choices when it comes to robbing.

Within these major cities, the use of the drug is most concentrated in areas that have a high density of bars, nightclubs, and restaurants – if you’re familiar with Medellín, this would include places like El Poblado, Laureles or Centro.

An easy rule? The more bars, restaurants, clubs, and tourists? The more risk of scopolamine.

I’m certainly not saying to avoid such establishments, but it’s something to be aware of.

Myths About Scopolamine

Not everything you hear about scopolamine is true.

For instance, the claim that it turns you into an impressionable zombie that will do anything anyone asks of you has essentially been disproven.

Although victims will be more open to susceptibility and coercion due to its sedative effects, this drug will not turn you into some kind of mindless slave.

Additionally, the rumor that simply touching the substance can cause it to take effect isn’t true. If someone hands you a piece of paper with the substance or blows powder into your face, it’s unlikely to have much of an effect. Most criminals administer this drug in the form of a drink to ensure their victim ingests enough of it to take a proper hold. Simply touching a bit of it or even breathing in a small quantity isn’t likely to harm you too much.

Finally, as previously noted, many people who think they were drugged with scopolamine may not have been in fact drugged by scopolamine, but rather benzodiazepines. The only real way to find out would be a toxicology test.

P.S: Learn how to stay safe in South America.

How Can You Avoid Being Spiked?

Years ago, I was under the impression that only careless degenerates got scopolamined. You know, guys that wander around Santa Fe, Bogotá on the prowl for h*okers and c*caine!

However, since then, I’ve known a handful of savvy, careful travelers who have nevertheless become victims.

As much as I’d like to give some advice on how to avoid it, I’m not sure that I have any – if someone really wants to scope you, they’re probably going to succeed.

Of course, you can use common sense to reduce your chances of it occurring (drink and dine at reputable places, avoid online dating, don’t go out alone, don’t leave food and beverages unattended, etc.).

I would add that, if you’re out at a bar or nightclub and start to feel woozy despite not having had much to drink, you should try to get back home as fast as you possibly can. You may have a few minutes of lucidity before the drug fully takes hold, which could allow you to escape.

But in terms of avoiding it completely?

There really isn’t any way to do so.

Consider this: each time you order at a restaurant, bar or café, all it would take is one evil waiter or bartender to drug your lunch and there’s no way for you to notice. Scopolamine is odorless and doesn’t have a distinct taste, so you’re unlikely to know if your food or drink has been tampered with.

But, we should keep a sane mind about all this.

It’s not as though most Colombians wake up each day thinking, “What a lovely morning! Who shall I drug with devil’s breath today?”

The overwhelming majority of Colombians would never dream of doing such a thing.

Likewise, the overwhelming majority of tourists have incident-free trips to Colombia without taking any extreme safety measures.

Final Thoughts

While I’d certainly be vigilant about the risk of scopolamine, I wouldn’t cancel my trip to Colombia over it.

This country offers too many great experiences to miss out on!

However, scopolamine is, unfortunately, something you must be aware of while visiting.

At the end of the day, there are no guarantees. But, by never leaving your food or drinks unattended, dining at reputable spots, limiting alcohol consumption (or at least public drunkenness), avoiding drugs, and steering clear of online dating apps, you’ll reduce your chances of becoming a victim of this nasty drug.

Disclaimer: The above is a sponsored post, the views expressed are those of the sponsor/author and do not represent the stand and views of Outlook Editorial.