There is a saying that living in the information age, ignorance is a choice.
There is currently a warning circulating on social media platforms of criminals cunningly using a drug called Burandanga to rob and rape their victims.
The warning reads as follows:
“POLICE WARNING!! Police Warning Ladies: If you are a female, take heed! If you are male and have a significant female in your life who you care about, whether it’s your wife, your girlfriend, your daughter, your sister, your niece, your cousin, your next door neighbour; whomever…………..pass this along! Always, “Better safe than sorry!”. 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 courtesy and got in her 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 odour 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 after 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 more dangerous than the date rape drug and is transferable on simple cards. So take heed and make sure you don’t accept cards at any given 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/MALE YOU KNOW!!!!”
This is actually an urban legend/ hoax that has been circulating since as early as 2008. It originated in Britain and even found its way to America.
The exact same version that is now doing the rounds on South African social media has been circulating in the other mentioned countries. According to the urban legend, hoax and conspiracy debunking websites Snopes.com and Hoaxslayer.com the urban legend gained credibility in 2008 when a United Kingdom police officer’s email was circulated outside his department. Detective Constable Simon Lofting of Essex Police forwarded the much-travelled mail to intelligence officers to check if it was real, but what he meant strictly as a query somehow leaked to the general public with his signature block attached, thereby making it appear he was confirming the warning.
The drug though does exist and is also known as Scopolamine or Devil’s Breath. The drug is made from the borrachero tree, which is common in Colombia and has been used by criminals in this country. It renders its victims coherent but with no free will, said Snopes.com.
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