Fears ‘World’s Scariest Zombie drug’ Devil’s Breath Is in UK After Woman Suffered Horrifying Ordeal on Tube

The Sun ^ | 25 Jun 2025 | Emily Jane Davies

[nickcarraway]

The drug turns people into malleable zombies who have nightmarish hallucinations

THE world's scariest drug Devil's Breath - used by organised crime groups to kidnap Brits abroad - may have made its way into the UK.

The mind-warping chemical was once tested by the CIA as a truth serum and turns tourists into "zombies" who give up valuables without a struggle.

Deborah Oscar, 30, suspects she was spiked on a London train with ‘Devil’s Breath’ drugCredit: SWNS Also known as scopolamine or burundanga, the powerful drug is derived from the seeds of the Borrachero tree and wipes away memory and free will.

The US's Overseas Security Advisory Council has warned travellers to South America about the dangers of Devil's Breath.

It is administered via drinks, chewing gum, cigarettes or paper and card.

The drug has also been linked to deaths in the UK - including Irish dancer Adrian Murphy, who died in 2019 after his killers administered scopolamine.

Last month it was reported that Colombian police fear London-based scientist Alessandro Coatti, 38, who was found dead while on holiday in Santa Marta in April, may have been targeted with Devil's Breath too.

While the powdered form is tasteless and odourless, it is a potent drug that can disorient and incapacitate people and lead to hallucinations.

How tourists are being targeted with ‘Devil’s Breath’ drug that turns victims into ‘zombies’ for robberies & kidnaps

By Juliana Cruz Lima

In doses as small as 10mg, it can paralyse victims and leave them highly susceptible to commands, making them easy prey for criminals.Victims lose their will, forget what happened, and often hand over PINs, valuables and passwords without a fight.Now Colombian gangs are plying unsuspecting tourists with the drug via drinks, chewing gum, cigarettes — or even business cards soaked in the substance — often after luring them through apps like Tinder or Grindr. And the body count is rising.In a UK first, the drug was used in 2019 to murder Irish dancer Adrian Murphy.Teen killer Diana Cristea and her boyfriend Joel Osei met him on Grindr, poisoned him with scopolamine, and ransacked his flat.They were later convicted of murder and attempted murder of a second victim.British-based scientist Alessandro Coatti, 42, was on holiday in Santa Marta last month when he was lured to an abandoned house via Grindr.There, investigators believe he was drugged, bludgeoned to death, dismembered, and stuffed into suitcases.His remains were found scattered across the city, discovered by horrified children.Only his head, hands and feet have been recovered.One of the masterminds behind this chilling criminal trend is alleged gang boss Carolina Mejía Montoya, 27, nicknamed “The Queen of Scopolamine.”She was arrested in Medellín after years of drugging and robbing foreign tourists in luxury apartments and hotels across the tourist hotspots of El Poblado and Parque Lleras.She racked up millions in thefts, using her beauty to gain the trust of high-profile visitors.In one night alone, she stole more than 120 million pesos from an Italian and an American man, police said.CCTV captured her leading victims into short-term rentals before drugging them and fleeing with their cash, cards and jewellery.Mejía, part of the La Marina gang, had previously been granted house arrest in a gun case — only to vanish and continue her spree.

According to the UK Addiction Treatment group, it can also effect memories, make users highly impressionable and even paralyse them.

Victims have been raped, convinced to commit violent crimes, emptied their bank accounts and even had their organs stolen while under the influence of this drug.

Zaheen Ahmed, Director of Addiction Therapy at The UKAT Group, told The Sun: "It wouldn't be a stretch to suggest that Devil's Breath could have made its way into the UK.

"Unfortunately, when there's high demand for drugs, especially 'new' drugs, supply will find a way.

"Although primarily found in Columbia, we know that it's already made its way into Europe, and so unfortunately, there is every chance that it is already here."

It comes after a woman claimed she was spiked with the terrifying drug on a London tube.

Deborah Oscar, 30, was on the Elizabeth Line leaving from Abbey Wood when a woman wafted a newspaper in her face - leaving her feeling "high" and "sleepy - before sitting next to her in an empty carriage.

Barely able to keep her eyes open, Deborah remembered a TikTok video she had seen about 'Devil's Breath' - a drug called scopolamine blown on victims to turn them into compliant "zombies" before they are robbed or killed.

She stumbled out of the train to safety.

Deborah, a content creator, from Abbey Wood, southeast London, is adamant she was hit with the drug which at one point was used in an estimated 50,000 attacks a year in South America, with reports of street robberies in Paris.

Deborah said: "This train was fairly empty, and this woman was walking slowly wafting this newspaper staring at me.

"I assumed she was a confused tourist about to ask for directions.

What is Devil's Breath?

Some people may take the drug on purpose for a "dream-like state" it can induce, mistakenly thinking it will be like mainstream hallucinogens like LSD.But Devil's Breath hallucinations tend to be far more disturbing and disjointed, often manifesting as nightmarish visions or confusing scenarios that blur the lines of reality.It may also be taken by mistake due to its close resemblance to cocaine.The correct dosage of the drug is notoriously hard to pin down, and even a slight miscalculation can lead to an overdose.This can lead to respiratory failure, acute psychosis and even death.Symptoms may include dry mouth, difficulty speaking, lethargy, hallucinations, rapid heartbeat and disorientation.Source: The UKAT Group

"But she just maintained eye contact. It felt eerie and very odd but she was quite well dressed, so I didn't feel scared really, she just looked like a tourist.

"Then she came and sat down next to me and I felt like I needed a deep sleep, I suddenly felt very peaceful.

"Like the first few seconds when you have anaesthesia before a surgery.

"I thought I had low blood sugar, maybe I was about to faint - that's when I remembered videos I had seen about the 'Devil's Breath' drug.

"She walked away eventually but kept staring at me the whole time."

Deborah said she was left feeling drunk - and that her "mind was working faster than her body", during the incident around 11am on Tuesday, June 17.

"The doors closed behind me and I got away - once I stepped into the fresh air outside, the feeling began to subside too.

"I had my Yves Saint Laurent bag on me, maybe they thought I was wealthy. But I was wearing a dress from Primark too."

After sharing her experience online she said she has had other people contacting her sharing similar experiences in London.

When contacted, the Met Police were unable to comment on whether this is a wider issue across London.

A TfL spokesperson said: "Everyone should feel safe and be safe when travelling in London and we're very sorry that Ms Oscar experienced what must have been an extremely frightening incident for her.

"We take all reports of crime seriously and are investigating this incident

"We ask anyone who witnesses or experiences a crime to report it to British Transport Police on 6101."

[Omnivore-Dan]

Jeez. What ever happened to the guy who just pointed a gun at you and said “gimme yer money!”? It used to be so simple.

[packagingguy]

Doesn’t locoweed have this drug? It’s the plants’ natural insecticide.

[Getready]

Scopolamine. Been used in medicine since early 1900’s.
From the nightshade family. Henbane, mandrake, belladonna has some of it ..more atropine though, Jimson weed ( for the old hippies out there)Interestingly tomatoes and potatoes are from the same family ..but have very little in the edible parts ..
Decent medicinal view presented on Drugs.com...under “professional”...Wikipedia has a decent review
Article is sensationalistic.Next thing y’know..someones gonna overdose on ethanol and Benadryl and all the criminals will start using that and we’ll get another breathless ignoramus “journalist” to write another sensational piece.
Since early 1900’s.....

[Getready]

Used to lower lung secretions. Sorry about the situation you had to witness.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

Interestingly tomatoes and potatoes are from the same family ..but have very little in the edible parts

Berton Roueche used to write medical-mystery pieces for the New Yorker, starting in the 1940s. One of them, "Something a Little Unusual" from 1965, describes the results of grafting tomato plants onto Jimson-weed stock. Fortunately nobody died.

[ozarker]

Scopolamine is a pretty useful drug. devils’ breath sounds much scarier. You could give scope to patient that was too unstable for other anesthetic agents. Was treating Gunshot victim with low and unstable blood pressure, initially got anesthetic of oxygen and paralytic. when he stabilized a bit we worked in some scopolamine to soothe our consciences. I hope he didn’t have any recall.

[chrisser]

IIRC, Scopolamine is mentioned multiple times in “The Guns of Navarrone” with Gregory Peck et al., as being a favored interrogation drug of the Nazis.

[piasa]

death.Symptoms may include dry mouth, difficulty speaking, lethargy, hallucinations, rapid heartbeat and disorientation....

Are we sure that it it wasn’t given to Biden?

[MikelTackNailer]

At the state school I was at in 1978 someone ran across an area where Jimson weeds were ripening just off the campus. They emit a unique odor all their own that sticks in olfactory memory.

Pretty soon kids all over school were taking the little seeds in varying doses, resulting in a wide range of effects. I visited one friend while he was in the guard station's jail cell.

He was caught running around a parking lot, arms wide thinking he was an airplane. Apparently clothes are optional for human airplanes. During my visit he kept looking to the right of me with intense interest. "What's going on?", I asked.

"That tiny motocross race going up the wall there. The red bike's in the lead."

Fortunately the authorities found the patch and that was that, but it was easy to see who was under it's influence during classes. Jimson weed causes a temporary far-sightedness so kids were holding books as far away as possible trying to read them, looking like young frustrated geriatrics.

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

CIA....the great satan.

It does no good. Even jfk assasination.

[bricklayer]

You are right...and that is one great movie!

[ponygirl]

Some kids at my high school also got into a patch of locoweed. The story we heard is they were all laying around the field and when the cops went looking for them, one of the cops shined a flashlight on one of the kids, who started shrieking and flailing about that his hand was on fire.

[LadyDoc]

we used scopalamine in twilight sleep for women in labor.

It induces amnesia but a lot of the women would scream and curse their husbands. Some claim it is a truth serum.

Also found in jimson weed that grows wild in the eastern states