Latest news with #Devil'sBreath
Metro
26-05-2025
- Metro
Crypto boss 'chained up and electrocuted man before taunting him with chainsaw'
A cryptocurrency boss worth £73,000,000 has been accused of chaining up, electrocuting and 'torturing' an Italian tourist for weeks. 37-year-old John Woeltz was arrested in New York after the victim managed to escape the high-end Soho apartment he was being held in and find a police officer. Woeltz has been accused of helping lure tourists like Carturan to New York before torturing them to get access to their lucrative cryptocurrency accounts. Police said the tourist met Woeltz on May 6 and went back to his townhouse in Soho before Woeltz snatched the Italian's passport. The man said he was dangled from the top of a five-storey stairwell, tasered with his feet in water, pistol-whipped, and threatened to have his legs cut off with a chainsaw if he didn't give Woeltz access to his cryptocurrency accounts. The torture was documented on a Polaroid camera. Police found photos of the victim strapped to a chair. Woeltz has been charged with assault and unlawful imprisonment, but denies any wrongdoing. His family has claimed he is 'kind, caring and loving' – but 'controlled by other people'. A relative told the New York Post: 'He was hijacked and manipulated and scammed. I think they stole his money as well.' After the victim managed to escape the so-called 'house of horrors' where he was being held, he waved a nearby police officer over and was taken to the hospital. Woeltz was arrested shortly after. Witnesses said a SWAT team descended upon the high-end residence to arrest the crypto boss. The luxury apartment where Woeltz was staying – and tortured his victim – charges $75,000 each month. It's the latest incident of violence related to cryptocurrency. In February, three British men in Spain were arrested over the kidnapping of another cryptocurrency broker. The victim had agreed to get drinks at an apartment in Costa-del-Sol. Once there, he was told to hand over 30,000 Euros (£25,000) in cryptocurrency from his customers' accounts or be tortured and killed. More Trending Another man, Jacob Irwin-Cline, from Portland, Oregon, claimed had over $120,000 in cryptocurrency stolen after being abducted and 'drugged' by a man he thought was his Uber driver in London. After smoking the cigarette his driver offered him, Irwin-Cline said he fell unconscious for the next half an hour. When he came to – still feeling the effects of what he believed was a powerful drug nicknamed 'Devil's Breath' – Irwin-Cline left the car and discovered his phone was missing. After gaining access to his accounts again, the software developer discovered his cryptocurrency accounts had been 'wiped' of his life savings of more than $120,000. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: British woman, 21, locked up in Dubai over drugs charges after moving for new job MORE: Huge fire engulfs £4,500,000 Grade II mansion on Millionaires' Row MORE: Here's how you can protect yourself from being scammed with deepfakes
Irish Independent
25-05-2025
- Irish Independent
Colombian gangs are using a deadly ‘zombie' drug to prey on gullible tourists
A dose of the narcotic, once used as a CIA truth serum, can paralyse victims ©Telegraph Media Group Holdings Ltd Yesterday at 21:30 Colombian gangs are using a deadly drug once used by the CIA as a truth serum to kidnap and rob Western tourists. Dubbed Devil's Breath, the drug scopolamine is derived from the seeds of the Borrachero tree and is also known as burundanga.
Scottish Sun
24-05-2025
- Scottish Sun
How tourists are being targeted with ‘Devil's Breath' drug that turns victims into ‘zombies' for robberies & kidnaps
Victims become powerless, suffer memory loss, and frequently give up PINs, valuables, and passwords without a struggle DEVIL YOU KNOW How tourists are being targeted with 'Devil's Breath' drug that turns victims into 'zombies' for robberies & kidnaps Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) TOURISTS in Colombia are being hunted by gangs using a terrifying drug dubbed Devil's Breath — a mind-warping chemical that turns victims into compliant 'zombies' before they're robbed, kidnapped or even killed. Also known as scopolamine or burundanga, the powerful drug is derived from the seeds of the Borrachero tree and was once tested by the CIA as a truth serum. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 6 Tourists in Colombia are being targeted by gangs wielding a terrifying drug known as Devil's Breath Credit: AFP 6 Devil's Breath comes from the seeds of the Borrachero tree Credit: Alamy 6 UK-based scientist Alessandro Coatti was poisoned in Colombia Credit: 6 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. Murders, robberies & warnings In a UK first, the drug was used in 2019 to murder Irish dancer Adrian Murphy. Read more world news MODEL MURDER Horror as influencer model shot dead at door by hitman 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. In Colombia, foreign visitor deaths rose by 29% last year. Robberies in Medellín alone soared by 200% in the last quarter of 2023, prompting international warnings. The US Embassy warned: 'The use of online dating apps can increase your risk. Be cautious meeting strangers.' Backstreet chemists can extract 90% pure scopolamine with little more knowledge than a second-year science student. In grapefruit juice, the drug is even more potent because the juice slows the body's ability to break it down. UK scientist's brutal death 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. Footballer rushed to hospital after being shot as he got into firefight with bungling robbers who killed man at bar Mayor Carlos Pinedo Cuello said: 'We are offering a reward of fifty million Colombian pesos for information that will allow us to identify and capture those responsible. This crime will not go unpunished.' Coatti, a Royal Society of Biology scientist, had been travelling in South America after leaving his job to volunteer in Ecuador. He was identified by a hotel wristband found on one of his severed limbs. While the exact cause of death for the Italian scientist remains officially unconfirmed, there is speculation that he may have been drugged with scopolamine prior to his murder. The 'Scopolamine Queen' 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. 'You do anything they say' Victims describe the effect of the drug as hypnotic and horrifying. Fernando, a 64-year-old Brit, believes he was drugged while on a work trip to Bogotá in 2012. He told The Telegraph: 'It's very dangerous because you're totally hypnotised, you do anything they say.' He said he blacked out after sipping a spiked beer and woke up the next day with €1,000 gone. Security later confirmed he'd wandered back to his hotel, retrieved a card from his safe, and left again—while still under the influence. 'It does something to your brain where you forget completely… it's like a vacuum,' he added. 6 Gang boss Carolina Meija Montoya arrested in Medellin Credit: Policía Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá 6 In Colombia, foreign visitor deaths rose by 29% last year Too late to remember Others haven't been so lucky. Colombian TikTok user 'Manning' recalled being drugged after a Tinder date — waking up six hours later in a ransacked apartment, his valuables, designer clothes and even his flip-flops gone. 'It was the worst experience. I woke up and found myself lying in my apartment, a mess,' he said, according to Infobae. Security footage showed the date calmly leaving with stolen suitcases. And it's not just apps or nightlife. In Bogotá, scopolamine has been sprinkled on ATMs, notebooks, and even jackets to target unsuspecting victims in daylight. In one case at the Atlantis Shopping Center, a woman fainted after touching a keypad coated in powder. In another, a man became disoriented after trying to help a stranger with directions near the Andino mall. Both survived — but experts warn many do not. 'It puts the brain to sleep. You are a zombie,' Dr Sarah Cockbill, a retired consultant pharmacist, told The Telegraph. 'People do just wander round in what looks like a trance.' Prof Kamyar Afarinkia, a toxicology expert, added: 'You can get a business card, soak it in [scopolamine], let it dry and then give it to somebody. 'When they touch it, unless they wash their hands quickly, it gets absorbed under their skin.' The drug's popularity with criminals lies in its subtlety. Victims won't realise they've been exposed until it's too late—and many are too embarrassed to report it. According to the US Embassy in Bogotá, eight American citizens died in late 2023 alone from involuntary drug overdoses or suspected scopolamine-related homicides.
The Irish Sun
24-05-2025
- The Irish Sun
How tourists are being targeted with ‘Devil's Breath' drug that turns victims into ‘zombies' for robberies & kidnaps
TOURISTS in Colombia are being hunted by gangs using a terrifying drug dubbed Devil's Breath — a mind-warping chemical that turns victims into compliant 'zombies' before they're robbed, kidnapped or even killed. Also known as scopolamine or burundanga, the powerful drug is derived from the seeds of the Borrachero tree and was once tested by the CIA as a truth serum. 6 Tourists in Colombia are being targeted by gangs wielding a terrifying drug known as Devil's Breath Credit: AFP 6 Devil's Breath comes from the seeds of the Borrachero tree Credit: Alamy 6 UK-based scientist Alessandro Coatti was poisoned in Colombia Credit: 6 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. Murders, robberies & warnings In a UK first, the drug was used in 2019 to Read more world news 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. In Colombia, foreign visitor deaths rose by 29% last year. Robberies in Medellín alone soared by 200% in the last quarter of 2023, prompting international warnings. The US Embassy warned: 'The use of online dating apps can increase your risk. Be cautious meeting strangers.' Most read in The US Sun Backstreet chemists can extract 90% pure scopolamine with little more knowledge than a second-year science student. In grapefruit juice, the drug is even more potent because the juice slows the body's ability to break it down. UK scientist's brutal death 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. Only his head, hands and feet have been recovered. Footballer rushed to hospital after being shot as he got into firefight with bungling robbers who killed man at bar Mayor Carlos Pinedo Cuello said: 'We are offering a reward of fifty million Colombian pesos for information that will allow us to identify and capture those responsible. This crime will not go unpunished.' Coatti, a Royal Society of Biology scientist, had been travelling in South America after leaving his job to volunteer in Ecuador. He was identified by a hotel wristband found on one of his severed limbs. While the exact cause of death for the Italian scientist remains officially unconfirmed, there is speculation that he may have been drugged with scopolamine prior to his murder. The 'Scopolamine Queen' 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. 'You do anything they say' Victims describe the effect of the drug as hypnotic and horrifying. Fernando, a 64-year-old Brit, believes he was drugged while on a work trip to Bogotá in 2012. He told He said he blacked out after sipping a spiked beer and woke up the next day with €1,000 gone. Security later confirmed he'd wandered back to his hotel, retrieved a card from his safe, and left again—while still under the influence. 'It does something to your brain where you forget completely… it's like a vacuum,' he added. 6 Gang boss Carolina Meija Montoya arrested in Medellin Credit: Policía Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá 6 In Colombia, foreign visitor deaths rose by 29% last year Too late to remember Others haven't been so lucky. Colombian TikTok user 'Manning' recalled being drugged after a Tinder date — waking up six hours later in a ransacked apartment, his valuables, designer clothes and even his flip-flops gone. 'It was the worst experience. I woke up and found myself lying in my apartment, a mess,' he said, according to Security footage showed the date calmly leaving with stolen suitcases. And it's not just apps or nightlife. In Bogotá, scopolamine has been sprinkled on ATMs, notebooks, and even jackets to target unsuspecting victims in daylight. In one case at the Atlantis Shopping Center, a woman fainted after touching a keypad coated in powder. In another, a man became disoriented after trying to help a stranger with directions near the Andino mall. Both survived — but experts warn many do not. 'It puts the brain to sleep. You are a zombie,' Dr Sarah Cockbill, a retired consultant pharmacist, told The Telegraph. 'People do just wander round in what looks like a trance.' Prof Kamyar Afarinkia, a toxicology expert, added: 'You can get a business card, soak it in [scopolamine], let it dry and then give it to somebody. 'When they touch it, unless they wash their hands quickly, it gets absorbed under their skin.' The drug's popularity with criminals lies in its subtlety. Victims won't realise they've been exposed until it's too late—and many are too embarrassed to report it. According to the US Embassy in Bogotá, eight American citizens died in late 2023 alone from involuntary drug overdoses or suspected scopolamine-related homicides.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
Gangs prey on tourists with deadly ‘zombie' drug
Colombian gangs are using a deadly drug once used by the CIA as a truth serum to kidnap and rob Western tourists. Dubbed Devil's Breath, the drug scopolamine is derived from the seeds of the Borrachero tree and is also known as burundanga. In potent doses of 10mg or more, it can paralyse its victims, rendering them highly suggestible to commands as they are placed in a 'zombie'-like state. The gangs will ensnare tourists by promising them a night of passion in messages sent over dating apps such as Tinder or the LGBT platform Grindr. After leading them to a secluded setting, the victim is offered a drink, or even a stick of chewing gum or a cigarette, that is laced with the colourless and odourless drug. Cases have also been reported of victims being injected using incredibly fine needles that leave no trace of an entry wound. As the chemical cocktail works its way through their nervous system over the next 30 minutes, the victim is assailed with hallucinations, delirium and starts to lose control of their limbs. Sprawled helplessly on the bed or couch, their captors drain their accounts, rummage through their wallets or prise pieces of jewellery from their fingers and wrists. Those who start reacting erratically or try to resist are often hit over the head, according to Agustin Guerrero Salcedo, a leading toxicologist from Barranquilla with 40 years of experience treating such incidents. Police fear this is the fate that befell Alessando Coatti, a 38-year-old Italian scientist who went missing while on holiday in the coastal city of Santa Marta last month. Detectives believe the molecular biologist, who worked in London, was lured to an abandoned house in the San José del Pando neighbourhood after being contacted over the Grindr dating app. What exactly happened on the evening of April 4 remains unclear but post-mortem examinations concluded that Coatti was killed by blunt-force trauma. His body was then dismembered and stuffed into suitcases and bags strewn across the city in an apparent attempt to trick investigators into believing it was a gangland-style hit involving warring drug clans. 'It does something to your brain where you forget completely… it's like a vacuum,' recalled Fernando, a 64-year-old British financial analyst who believes he was drugged with Devil's Breath while on a business trip to Bogota in 2012. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the retired father of two, currently living in Spain, told The Telegraph he was duped into withdrawing around €1,000 with two separate credit cards after his beer was spiked during a night out at a bar near his hotel. He woke up the next afternoon at 1pm with next to no recollection of what had occurred the night before. Fernando said was forced to rely on the hotel receptionist to piece together the fragments of what happened that evening. He could only recall being approached by someone at a bar and then, according to the hotel staff, was picked up by a sympathetic taxi driver who came across him wandering in a daze along the streets of a shady neighbourhood of Bogota. 'It's very dangerous because you're totally hypnotised, you do anything they say,' Fernando said. 'The next day I went to work and told people what happened to me. They suggested I go get tested, and it turned out I had been drugged 'I don't remember much, I just have glimpses of vague instances of walking along the streets and stumbling over my feet. 'Since then I have never accepted [random] drinks or left my drink alone: I think that's what had happened, I had probably gone to the toilet and let my beer down.' Fernando explained that because he left one of his cards in the hotel safe, it means he was made to go back to the hotel and collect it while possibly intoxicated on Devil's Breath. 'I had gone back into my hotel, during the time in which I was on burundanga and, on my own, taken a card and gone out again.' Fernando informed police of the incident but claimed the dismissive manner in which they treated his complaint suggested such thefts were very commonplace. Cases have become so prevalent in Colombia that the US embassy in Bogota singled out scopolamine in a security warning to tourists in June 2023 over the dangers of meeting people through online dating. Many cases go unreported out of embarrassment and a reluctance to engage with police or judicial authorities. Tourist cities of Medellin, Cartagena, and Bogota were singled out as hotspots. Thefts committed against foreign visitors to Medellin in the last three months of 2023 had risen by 200 per cent compared with the previous year, city authorities said. Violent deaths of foreign visitors, most of which were US citizens, had increased 29 per cent. In January last year the US embassy disclosed that there had been eight deaths of its citizens attributed to involuntary drugging overdose or suspected homicides between November 1 and December 31 2023. In the first case of its kind in the UK, Diana Cristea, then 19, together with her boyfriend Joel Osei, used Devil's Breath to poison and rob Adrian Murphy, an Irish dancer, in June 2019 after befriending him over Grindr. Toxicology reports showed Murphy had died from an overdose of the drug. Cristea, of Mill Hill, north London, and Osei, then 25, were both found guilty of murder following a trial at Croydon Crown Court. They were also convicted of poisoning a second man with the same drug two days earlier. The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, survived, but was taken to hospital after being found by a neighbour almost naked, extremely agitated and confused. Cristea was jailed for 16 years and handed a life sentence. Osei was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 32 years. The National Crime Agency, Britain's equivalent of the FBI, said there was little evidence of scopolamine being used in the UK but that they were monitoring cases. Prof Kamyar Afarinkia, a lecturer on drug toxicology from the University of West London, said that a backstreet chemist with as much knowledge as a second year university student would be able to extract scopolamine with 90 per cent purity from a Borrachero tree and manufacture it for use with only a few readily available chemicals. Explaining the ease with which it can be administered, he said: 'If it's sprayed onto the face and if it's not cleaned properly, then it gets into your bloodstream fairly easily. 'It can also be given, for example, in fruit it's given in grapefruit juice it's a lot more effective because grapefruit juice stops the metabolism of the drug in the body. 'You can get a business card, soak it in, let it dry and then give it to somebody and then when they touch it would obviously be under their skin unless they go and wash their hands very quickly.' Prof Afarinkia added: 'In these cases it causes a very strange state when people basically accept everything that is said to them. 'Scopolomaine belongs to a class of so-called 'truth serums' that you may have heard about in spy novels and basically that means people are open to suggestions. 'So if they said 'can you tell me the latest secrets', people volunteer it, they wouldn't actually remember it afterwards.' Dr Sarah Cockbill, a retired consultant pharmacist who has acted as an expert witness in medical legal cases for the past 13 years, said the severity of symptoms depended on the dosage, the health and age of the victim and whether any adulterants had been added to it. She said: 'It puts the brain to sleep, so you are a zombie, you don't know what you're doing, how much of it and where. 'People do just wander round in what looks like a trance until the symptoms wear off, but again that is dose dependent and a lot of people have more severe reactions to a small dose.' On the risk of longer term brain damage, she added: 'If you're putting your brain to sleep, it wouldn't be the most unusual thing for there to be some long lasting damage when they finally come around.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
