DEVIL’S BREATH: The Mind-Control Drug That Turns Men Into Zombies
It only takes a brief whiff of Devil’s Breath to steal your free will… and make you smile while handing your soul to a stranger.
In the lush, green mountains of Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, there grows a tree like no other. The native people of its home region refer to it as the borrachero, and its lovely trumpet-shaped blossoms conceal a sinister secret. From these innocuous-looking blooms comes one of the most terrifying substances on the planet — a powder called “Devil’s Breath.”
The Zombie Drug
Scientists know it as scopolamine or hyoscine, but those who have witnessed its effects firsthand have given it more frightening monikers: Colombian Devil’s Breath or simply “the zombie drug.” Unlike drugs taken recreationally, this one is nearly always administered without the victim’s knowledge. If someone inhales even the smallest amount of this powder, something horrifying occurs. They don’t pass out. They don’t act crazy. Instead, something much creepier happens — they lose their free will while still appearing normal.
“It’s like you wake up inside a nightmare, and there’s no way out,” said Ivan Gomez, one of many victims who succumbed to the drug’s potency. “I was dancing and having fun one minute in a club, then the next thing I know, I woke up on a park bench, beaten and robbed. The scariest part? I assisted the thieves in draining my own bank account, and I have no recollection of any of it.”
The Perfect Crime
In the shadows of Bogotá, Colombia’s chaotic capital city, Devil’s Breath has become a popular weapon among criminal gangs targeting wealthy victims. Captain Romero Mendoza of the Bogotá Police Department has encountered hundreds of cases.
“The victims walk and talk normally. They can have conversations. They can even drive cars or punch in codes to withdraw money from ATMs. But they have no agency, and they’ll do whatever they’re told,” he said, his expression grim. “And when they wake up hours later, they have no memory.”
What makes this drug especially deadly is how easy it is to administer. A criminal might blow the powder into a victim’s face, slip it into their drink, or even drop it into their eyes. Within minutes, the victim becomes a puppet — incapable of resisting commands, yet seeming completely normal to everyone around them.
“We use it to rob men,” confessed Jessica Maria, a woman who admitted to using the drug on victims. “Men use it to rape women. Everything about Devil’s Breath is about hurting people.”
Even more terrifying is how little it takes. A Colombian drug dealer showed visiting journalists how one borrachero fruit contains enough of the drug to subdue 10 to 12 people.
“And this tree,” he continued, gesturing toward a wild borrachero growing along a city street, “is right next to a kindergarten. Welcome to ‘Locombia’!” — a dark pun on Colombia’s name, meaning “crazy Colombia.”
A History Written in Shadows
The history of Devil’s Breath is as dark as its effects. Centuries ago, when ancient Colombian chiefs died, their wives and mistresses would take the drug and calmly walk to open graves, allowing themselves to be buried alive — their limbs heavy and unresisting, even as they had to know what was coming.
During World War II, Josef Mengele — the notorious “Nazi Angel of Death” — brought Devil’s Breath from Colombia to Germany for his ghoulish experiments. He standardized it as a truth serum, compelling people to share their deepest secrets.
Later, during the Cold War, even the CIA became fascinated by the drug’s mind-control potential. They added it to their clandestine Project MK ULTRA, administering it to unknowing human subjects in disturbing experiments.
The Science Behind the Fear
Dr. Miriam Gutiérrez, a Colombian toxicologist who studies scopolamine, described the drug’s frightening potential:
“From a medical point of view, it’s the perfect substance for criminal acts because the victim won’t remember anything. They won’t remember that they assisted the criminals when they wake up to find themselves robbed. This substance has the power to ‘hypnotize’ the patient.”
What makes Devil’s Breath particularly dangerous is its potency. It’s nearly identical to cocaine — same color, same weight, same texture. But while it takes roughly 100 milligrams of cocaine to kill a person, only 10 milligrams of Devil’s Breath can be fatal. And in Colombia, a lethal dose costs about the same as an American penny.
Not All Darkness
Strangely enough, scopolamine does have legitimate medical uses — but only in extremely small and carefully measured doses. It is sometimes prescribed by doctors for severe motion sickness — the kind experienced by astronauts or deep-sea divers. It can also help with extreme nausea and certain gastrointestinal issues.
But these medical uses involve tiny, controlled amounts in clinical settings — nothing like the doses used by criminals on Colombia’s streets.
The Invisible Threat
What makes Devil’s Breath all the more disconcerting is its invisibility. It has no taste or smell. Victims have no idea they’ve been drugged until it’s too late. And since they appear normal while under its influence — able to talk, walk, and function — no one around them realizes they’re in danger.
“It’s like being stuck inside your own body,” said one victim. “Your mind is screaming ‘no,’ but your mouth is saying ‘yes’ to whatever they ask you to do.”
In Colombia — home to one in three kidnappings worldwide — Devil’s Breath has become a go-to for criminals. Victims don’t often report the crime because they can’t remember what happened — or because they’re embarrassed that they seemingly “helped” the criminals roam free.
So the next time you’re offered a drink by a stranger, or someone brushes unusually close to you in a crowd, think of the borrachero tree and its deadly secret. In some parts of the world, a single breath can turn anyone into a compliant zombie — conscious but enslaved, aware but powerless. Breathing, but no longer in control of their own destiny.
And perhaps the scariest thought of all is that these trees still grow wild, their deceptively innocent-looking flowers concealing one of the most dangerous substances known to humankind — a drug that truly steals the soul.
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