Burundanga - does the creepy jungle drug really exist?

The number of urban legends generated by human imagination in recent years has been enormous. Some of them are invented from beginning to end, while others are based on very real facts. The latter include stories about Burundang, a narcotic drug that completely deprives a person of will. Let's figure out what is fiction and what is not.

People started talking about the Burundang in large numbers in 2008. Stories have appeared online that some villains are poisoning gas station customers with a poison unknown to science. These stories were spread on forums, on social networks and simply in spam letters by unknown “well-wishers.”

If you believe these stories, then someone is soaking business cards and advertising leaflets at gas stations with a substance called “burundanga”. As soon as a person picked up a piece of paper, the poison began to act. There was clouding of consciousness, apathy and stupor. Sometimes decoy business cards were left on cash register counters or cafe tables. But in some stories they were given in person, upon meeting.

The purpose of poisoning a stranger was obvious. The attackers wanted to rob or kidnap the victim. The stories were written on behalf of people who were targeted by criminals, or knew the victims personally. The lion's share of requests was addressed to representatives of the fair sex. This is not surprising, because everyone knows that women are more impressionable. Here is one typical letter:

Subject: Caution! Read this, girls! Tell your sisters, daughters, nieces, mothers, girlfriends, everyone. Real story. In the Texas city of Katy, a woman was approached at a gas station by a man who introduced himself as an artist. He offered her his services and handed her a business card. The woman was not interested in the offer, but took the business card. After the woman drove away from the gas station, she discovered that the car with the artist was following her.

Immediately she felt a sharp dizziness and began to choke. The woman decided to open the window and noticed that a strange smell was coming from the hand with which she took the business card. The woman began to honk her horn to attract the attention of bystanders. After this, the artist’s car drove away, and the woman’s poor health remained for several more minutes. The business card was marked with the substance burundang, which poisoners use to immobilize their victims. Don't accept business cards from strangers!

As we can see, it doesn’t look very reliable. More like the city stories that teenagers tell each other. But some of these letters still reached impressionable people, and they sowed panic. But does the notorious Burundanga really exist? Or maybe this is all the wild imagination of pranksters?

Unfortunately, not everything in these stories is fiction. Burundanga, or borracero as it is also called, actually exists and is truly a dangerous substance. It is an extract from plants of the nightshade family. Most often, the well-known Datura or a more exotic related species, Brugmansia, is used.

An extract from dangerous plants is a cocktail of toxic plant poisons. These alkaloids are scopolamine, hyoscyamine and atropine. Burundanga is most often prepared in South America, where they generally know a lot about drug madness. The plant Brugmansia suaveolens is used for this. The local name for the substance is toe.

Taking even a small dose of Burundang causes catastrophic consequences. The substance can act on the body for up to 4 days. In this case, the person is visited by terrible hallucinations, followed by periods of illusory adequacy. Under the influence of poison, the line between reality and delirium is lost and it looks like madness. When the effect of the toxins ceases, the poisoned person falls into a long sleep. After it, he may not remember what happened to him under the influence of the drug.

Burundang's ability to cause amnesia has intrigued scientists. Biologists Alfredo Ardilla and Carlos Moreno conducted an experiment studying this effect. They gave 25 volunteers a drug that was a lighter version of the toxin that was not hazardous to health. As a result, it turned out that the subjects became easily suggestible and controllable. They could easily be forced to perform the most actions, including those that were not beneficial to them.

There were also more severe experiences. Ethnobotanist Wade Davis took the risk of accepting the Burundanga in its pure form. He described his feelings like this:

The first mention of the exotic poison appeared back in 1995. Then the Wall Street Journal published an article about how in the capital of Colombia, street robbers use the Burundanga for criminal purposes. The drug was mixed into a drink that was offered to the victim. The man, having come to his senses, had absolutely no memory of the events associated with the poisoning. At the same time, he lost money, watches, jewelry, and sometimes even a car.

There are several known cases where criminals took the victim to an ATM and the victim simply withdrew all the money from her account. There was also a more treacherous way of introducing poison. Burundang powder was wrapped in paper, with which they approached the tourist. The criminal asked for help to read the text or show something on the map. When a passerby let down his guard, the villain would simply shake the drug in his face. One breath was enough for the effect to occur.

It is unknown whether street robbers use Burundanga today. One thing is certain: “chain letters” and horror stories on social networks are still fiction. The use of such a strong poison not in Colombia, but in the United States, would certainly have caused a serious reaction from the authorities and the stories would certainly have received publicity in the media.