Mother shares urgent warning about terrifying way criminals could be trying to drug young women with 'Devil's Breath' on public transport

Daily Mail​

14 hours ago

A mother has shared an urgent warning about the terrifying new way criminals are trying to drug young girls on public transport.
Aysin Cilek, 22, was travelling via train to Birmingham Moor Street last Tuesday when she was approached by a stranger, whom she now believes was trying to drug her with 'Devil's Breath', also known as scopolamine or burundanga.
The substance, which has been dubbed the 'world's scariest drug', is derived from the Borrachero tree and was once used by the CIA as a truth serum.
Victims are said to be rendered into a zombie-like state with as little as 10mg, making them easy to manipulate, hallucinate, and follow commands, sometimes with fatal consequences. Some however claim the alleged scam is little more than an urban myth.
Aysin was travelling alone with her baby daughter Neveah in a pram when an unknown man came up to her, asking her to help him with a 'stamp' for his letter.
But alarm bells soon rang for the young mother when he wanted her to 'lick' the stamp, saying he couldn't do so himself as he was 'fasting'.
Aysin now believes the stamp was laced with Devil's Breath and quickly took to TikTok to issue a warning to other young women.
She shared, in a video: 'Guys, the scariest thing happened to me today and I am literally just posting this for awareness, for other people, for other mums. Please be careful.'
Aysin said she got on the train and 'everything was fine' until a 'dodgy looking' man joined her carriage.
She continued: 'Just as we were getting to the next stop, he comes over and he's like "hi". He passes me a stamp but it's obviously not a stamp - it literally looks like an acid tab.
'But I wasn't thinking straight. He passes me this thing and I take it off him. I thought he was trying to sell me something. And he goes "Can you put my stamp on my letter?"'
Aysin initially agreed to help him out but soon backed out when he asked her to 'lick it'
She said the man told her 'you need to lick it [the 'stamp']. You need to get it wet to stick it on there'.
She added: 'He had his fingers all over this piece of paper, stamp thing. And he was like "you need to lick it!".' The "letter" wasn't even a letter, it was a piece of paper.
'This guy was definitely trying to drug me. It was just me and Nevaeh. I'm actually getting teary thinking about it. If I was that stupid to just lick the stamp and put it on, I could have been drugged, and Neveah could have been gone.
'This is serious guys, you need to be so careful when you're out and about. I would never ever have imagined something like that would happen to me. I've never been so scared in my life.'
She now says she won't be getting public transport any more or 'ever ever again' on her own and is afraid to leave the house alone
Although the man got off at the next stop, Aysin grew even more worried about his behaviour when he began peering into her pram, saying 'don't wake the baby'.
She now says she won't be getting public transport any more or 'ever ever again' on her own and is afraid to leave the house alone.
She's since reported the incident to the British Transport Police and enquiries are ongoing.
Taking to the comments, people were left shocked and also emphasised the importance of never accepting an item from a stranger - even if just to hold it.
They wrote: 'Do not take things that have been offered to you that's all I say';
'If a random person tries to give u something u NEVER it let alone licking it!';
'Stop being 'nice' to strange men you come across in the street. Ignore them and keep walking, especially if you're with your child';
'Scary, and worse still. If it was a grandparent might not have thought twice as we are old school and stamps always used to be licked.'
On TikTok, people emphasised the importance of never accepting anything from strangers
WHAT IS DEVIL'S BREATH?
Devil's Breath, also known as scopolamine or burundanga, which has been dubbed the 'world's scariest drug', is derived from the Borrachero tree and was once used by the CIA as a truth serum.
Victims are said to be rendered into a zombie-like state with as little as 10mg, making them easy to manipulate, hallucinate, and follow commands, sometimes with fatal consequences.
It is also used by some as a recreational drug - but the visions it causes are said to be far more disturbing than those caused by LSD.
It also has 'amnesiac' properties meaning that users of the drug may not be able to recall their own actions.
Some however claim the alleged scam is little more than an urban myth.
The US State Department has recorded unofficial estimated of 50,000 incidents a year in Colombia.
They previously published advice for US Citizens visiting South America:
1. Avoid going to nightclubs and bars on your own
2. Never leave your food or drink unattended
3. Never accept food or drink from strangers
4. Never leave restaurants, bars or clubs with strangers
A spokesperson for the British Transport Police told MailOnline: 'Officers were contacted on Tuesday 23 July by a woman in her 20s who was concerned about a man's behaviour, after he asked her to lick a postage stamp when she was on a train to Birmingham New Street earlier in the day.
'Enquiries into the nature of the incident are ongoing.'
Last month, Deborah Oscar also claimed she was a victim of a similar situation as she travelled on the Elizabeth Line in London - leading to fears that the drug has arrived in the UK.
Speaking on a TikTok video, she said: 'Today I am on the train, this is the first train, so the train is empty, the previous one had just left a few seconds earlier so I was one of the first people who got on the train.
'So I sat down and had the whole carriage to myself.
'A few minutes later I noticed someone walking very slowly and I looked up and I am thinking "this woman is walking very slowly, what is going on" and when I looked up I realised that she was staring in my direction.'
She goes on to describe that at first she thought this person was a tourist about to ask her for directions, but things start taking an unusual twist.
The TikToker, who goes by the handle @debyoscar, went on: 'She walks and stands in front of me, so at this point I'm like "how can I help you because this train is empty" and she is looking at me, and I am like "how can I help?"'
She explains that this mysterious woman is holding a newspaper and is 'waving it around' in a 'really strange' manner.
'She makes her way very slowly, still maintaining eye contact, and she sits down next to me,' the woman explains.
She then tells that as the train moves, all of a sudden she starts feeling dizzy and very high, and she describes 'the room getting very dark and it's spinning'.
She started to worry that it may be low blood sugar and that she may be about to faint.
She then remembered that she had previously watched a video about the drug which causes similar symptoms.
She said: 'In the groggy state, I start thinking "Oh my Gosh, is this what I think it is?"
'I pick up my phone and I leave a very groggy voice note to my sister in Italian. The woman is still staring at me and I start [describing the woman's appearance].'
To make things even creepier, she then claims the woman, while still looking at her, starts to walk away to another carriage.
'Then I remembered, in those videos [about the drug], they normally leave and somebody else will swoop in and basically lead you to cash machine and lead you to transfer your money to them.'
She claims she stood up in the train and moved to the next carriage and spotted a man and a woman who were sat one seat apart from each other in an otherwise empty carriage.
'I thought, what if these are the people that are watching me, because where they are sat they could clearly see where I was sat earlier.'
She said she felt 'dread' and thought 'you need to get out now'.
She claims she waited for the doors to almost close to leave the carriage.
'I waited until I heard the doors beep, and as soon as the doors beep I stood up and when I stood up the two South Asian people in front of me immediately looked at me and then looked at each other, and that was all I needed to see.
'I stumbled out of the train, and the doors closed behind me. When the fresh air hits me, the dizziness feeling subsides.'
She finished the video by saying: 'I don't know what that was. I don't know if it was black magic, a spell, or hypnotherapy, whatever it is, it was scary, but it was very real.
'I am just here to warn you to be careful and be wary.'
She added: 'I am thankful God that I left before they could do anything because I am planning a wedding so my account would have fed them for a few years, you know. So I am just thankful that didn't happen to me. But please be wary, they are in London.'
In May, it was reported that violent organised crime groups in Colombia were reportedly using Devil's Breath to kidnap and rob British tourists.
Feared mobsters are using it to drug unsuspecting tourists after ensnaring them with honey trap schemes through dating apps like Tinder and Grindr.
Hundreds of people in Colombia are thought to have been targeted with the drug.
Colombian police reportedly fear London-based scientist Alessandro Coatti, 38, may have died after being targeted this way.
The molecular biologist was staying at a hostel in the scenic historic centre of the coastal city of Santa Marta while on holiday.
Colombian detectives fear Mr Coatti may have gone to an abandoned house in the southern San José del Pando area of the city after connecting with someone on Grindr, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The drug is thought to have been used before in honey trap schemes in Colombia.
Footage of two women with a man in the city of Medellin was previously shared online.
Video showed the man carrying a paper bag and keying in the code for the entrance door's security lock.
One of the women, dressed in a black bodysuit, looked forward while her accomplice, wearing a similar pink outfit, turned around and looked towards a group of people that were standing near their motorcycles.
The individual then opened the door as the suspects followed him into the home - where the alleged robbery took place.
Once inside, the women allegedly drugged the man with powdered scopolamine, otherwise known as the 'Devil's Breath,' which causes a person to become disoriented.
The women fled with the victim's money, jewelry and cell phone.
According to Medellín authorities, at least 254 people were robbed in 2023 by criminals who exposed them to powdered scopolamine.