Scopolamine-treated Leaflets

http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/07/25/inenglish/1469445136_776085.html

El Pais in English

25 July 2016

Burundanga: the stealth drug that cancels the victim’s willpower

Well-known in Colombia, scopolamine is now being used in robberies and sexual assault in Spain

Iñigo Domínguez

[…] Last year, some Madrid hospitals […] reported surprising cases of elderly people who were disoriented and had been robbed, yet had no recollection of recent events. Medical experts consulted by this newspaper said they suspect the intoxication may have occurred through the skin, by picking up scopolamine-treated leaflets handed out on the street. […] Skin intoxication, however, is a controversial issue that not all experts believe in.”

Woman Poisoned by Business Card (Taiwan)

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2016/03/20/461267/CIB-denies.htm

China Post

20 March 2016

CIB denies rumors of woman poisoned by business card

The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Criminal Investigation Bureau (刑事局) has recently denied an Internet rumor that said a woman was poisoned with the use of a drugged business card.

In a released statement, the CIB said a recent Internet rumor that has been spreading through social media networks and Line groups says a Taiwanese woman was allegedly approached at a gas station by a man.

According to a widely disseminated email, a woman was handed a business card by a man at a gas station. Shortly after she became dizzy and developed breathing difficulty.

She realized there was a strong odor coming from the card and also that his car was following her.

The woman eventually recovered but decided that there had been some kind of substance on the card that affected her.

The writer of the email then speculates that the substance may have been a drug known as Burundanga. […]

Burundanga Warnings (India)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Mystery-drug-has-cops-on-toes-docs-laugh-it-off/articleshow/9341025.cms

The Times of India
24 July 2011

Mystery 'drug' has cops on toes, docs laugh it off

Dwaipayan Ghosh, TNN

NEW DELHI: Urban legend or not, but a new 'drug' called Burundanga, which, they say, can be used to benumb one's senses momentarily, has created quite a scare in the country. [...]

Delhi Police sources said they have never come across such a drug in the city, although they have heard about the drug being used in cities like Mumbai and Bangalore. The doctors there could hardly arrive at a conclusion on the nature of the drug used on the victims. Nevertheless, cops have advised people to be wary of strangers getting too friendly. [...]

Woman Sickened by Drug-Laced Paper (Kansas City)

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/30/2119098/urban-legend-tells-tale-about.html

The Kansas City Star [MO]
30 July 2010

Urban legend tells tale about woman getting sick from drug-laced paper

By TONY RIZZO
The Kansas City Star

A man’s effort to give his phone number to a woman he found “cute” was behind a widely disseminated e-mail about an incident in south Kansas City.

According to e-mail rumors, the incident involved a piece of paper laced with a drug that made the woman ill when she touched it — a scenario similar to previous “urban legends” in other jurisdictions.

Such a scenario was “highly, highly unlikely,” Kansas City Police Chief Jim Corwin reported on his online blog Friday. [...]

http://kcpdchief.blogspot.com/2010/07/what-really-happened-in-e-mail-thats.html

Chief Corwin's Blog
Kansas City Missouri Police Department

Friday, July 30, 2010

What really happened in e-mail that's going around

A scary e-mail about an incident in Kansas City has been making the rounds the last few days that bears a striking similarity to a popular urban legend. However, I did want to let you know that this incident really did happen, but we want to clarify some of the more scary parts. [...]

Burundanga Warnings (Malaysia)

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/23ssw/Article/index_html

New Straits Times [Malaysia]
19 April 2010

Emails on rape drug 'make sense'

By Ben Tan

JOHOR BARU: Ever heard of burundanga?

It's not the name of a bird but a potent date rape drug. Stories about the drug are spreading like wildfire in cyberspace through the personal emails of Malaysians and Singaporeans.

The forwarded emails are of victims or near victims of rapes and date rapes that warn the public to beware of criminals using business cards laced with burundanga. [...]

Poisoned Business Cards (Halifax, NS)

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2009/03/02/hoax-hrp.html

CBC News [Canada]
2 March 2009

Halifax police embarrassed by email hoax

Halifax Regional Police are clearing the air after one of their officers fell for an email hoax.

The email hoax claimed business cards soaked in poison were being passed around, and that a woman had been drugged after accepting one of the tainted cards. [...]

The email made the rounds at Halifax Regional Police and before long, the names of several officers were attached to it, giving a perception of credibility to the hoax. [...]

http://www.halifax.ca/Police/PressReleases/index.asp

Halifax Regional Police [NS]
20 February 2009

Press Releases

Hoax E-mail

There is an e-mail presently circulating in our area warning the public to beware of individuals handing out business cards which are laced with an overpowering drug temporarily incapacitating anyone handling it.

This e-mail is a hoax, as are most like it. [...]

Essex Cop Forwards Burundanga E-mail

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/3530921/Detective-sent-hoax-date-rape-email-around-the-world.html

The Daily Telegraph [UK]
27 November 2008

Detective sent hoax date rape email around the world

A detective accidentally forwarded a hoax email about a powerful new date rape drug to hundreds of thousands of women around the world.

The bogus email claimed business cards impregnated with a drug called Burundanga were being handed out by criminals to women at petrol stations.

The drug was said to knock them out and leave them vulnerable to attack.

Detective Constable Simon Lofting, 34, from Essex Police received the email and forwarded it on to intelligence officers to check if it was real. [...]

Drug-Soaked Business Cards

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24569704-952,00.html

The Courier-Mail [Brisbane, Australia]
29 October 2008

Police say drug-soaked business card story's a hoax

By Leanne Edmistone

CLAIMS criminals are using drug-soaked business cards to incapacitate female victims is the latest urban myth to circulate in email accounts. [...]

http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1275076

Welland Tribune [ON]
31 October 2008

E-mail a hoax: police

Posted By TRIBUNE STAFF

An e-mail hoax has cited Niagara Regional Police in an attempt to gain credibility.

For roughly two weeks now, NRP media officer Const. Jacquie Forgeron has been answering calls about an e-mail that has been making its rounds in Niagara.

The e-mail cites that it has been "passed to us by Paul Bevan of the Sexual Assault Unit" of the NRPS, prompting some recipients to believe its validity and pass it along.

The e-mail reports an account of a woman who was passed a business card, contaminated with the drug Burundanga, at a gas station. [...]