Minutes ago, I got a new hoax received thru text/ SMS again! It's something about a burundanga drug being imbued in a calling card handed to a person.
Image from The Hoax Slayer . com"Pls share with ur loves ones, friends.
a man came over and offered his service 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 anothes man. As the lady left the service station, she saw the men following her out of the same time.
Almost imm, she started 2 feel dizzy and could not catch her breath, she tried to open the window and realized that d odor was on her hands; d same hand which accepted d card fr d man at d service station. She then noticed the men were imm behind her n she felt she needed 2 do something at dat moment. She drove into d 1st driveway n bgan 2 honk her horn repeadly 2 ask for help.
D men drove away but d lady stil felt pretty bad for several mins after she finally catch her breath. Apparently, there was a substance on the card dat could hv seriously injured her. Dis drug s called 'BURUNDANGA' B it s used by people who wish 2 incapacitate a victim in order 2 steal or take advantage of dem. Dis drug s 4x more dangerous than d date rape drug n s transferable ou simple cards.
So take heed n make sure u dnt accept cards at any given time alone or fr stranger. Dis applies 2 those making hoouse calls n slipping u a card when dey offer their service.
Try googling burundanga for some info on this drug."
*whew!* that was a long one! The message above is exactly as I received it. Those are typos but those are from the circulating messages. I checked it and it reached almost 10 messages! This is the
Philippine version of the burundanga hoax! It's like a scene from a movie! My goodness!
Here is another version of it: "Share with your sisters, daughters, nieces, mothers, female friends, EVERYONE.
NEW WARNING!! 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 gentleman. 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 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 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 streets. This applies to those making house calls and slipping you a card when they offer their services."
There are several other versions of it...Anyway, after a bit of research, I discovered that:
-All sources agree that
burundanga must be inhaled or ingested, or the subject must have
prolonged topical contact with it, in order for it to have an effect.
-
burundanga must be taken with food or drink or inhaled as a powder. There are unsubstantiated stories that claim that criminals have drugged victims by blowing burundanga into their faces as they unfold a piece of paper that has previously been powdered with the drug. Other reports suggest that
burundanga is more commonly administered by adding it to the unwary victim's food or drink.
- The said
burundanga drug is colourless, odourless, and tasteless. How did she realize the odor in her hands then?
What is burundanga then?
Burundanga is the street version of a pharmaceutical drug called scopolamine. It is made from the extracts of plants in the nightshade family such as henbane and jimson weed. It's a deliriant, meaning it can induce symptoms of delirium such as disorientation, loss of memory, hallucinations, and stupor. (are they sure this isn't a sign of old age?) lol
You can see why it would be popular with criminals.
In powdered form scopolamine can be easily mixed into food or drink, or blown directly into victims' faces, forcing them to inhale it.
The drug achieves its "zombifying" effects by inhibiting the transmission of nerve impulses in the brain and muscles. It has several legitimate medicinal uses, including the treatment of nausea, motion sickness, and gastrointestinal cramps. Historically, it has also been used as a "truth serum" by law enforcement agencies. And, like its street cousin burundanga, scopolamine has frequently been implicated as a stupefying agent or "knockout drug" in the commission of crimes such as robbery, kidnapping, and date rape.
The absence of such basic details (such as victim's name, exact location where it happened, street name of the driveway, the "painters" name) in the warning makes it difficult or impossible to verify. This generic quality is often a characteristic of hoaxes and urban legends since too much detail means that such stories can be too easily debunked.It is possible that the said drug is used to hypnotize victims but before doing so, they must inhale/ingest it. There were several reports here in the
Philippines of victims that are said to be hypnotized. This must be the culprit... or is it another hoax? Let us find out...
