clients
Mon Oct 3, 2005 7:51 PM BST
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -
Half a dozen Mexico City prostitutes have been arrested for using eye drops containing a sleep-inducing drug to knock out and rob their clients, leaving at least five men dead, a newspaper said on Monday.
One central city district has recorded 17 cases this year including five deaths from the drug cyclopentolate -- a muscle relaxant used in eye examinations to dilate the pupil and blur vision.
"Once they are in the hotel it seems they slip a substance into the client's drink. Our data shows that they are using eye drops," local prosecutor Fernando Lopez told the daily El Universal.
Mixing eye drops, which are not meant to be swallowed, with alcohol can create a fatal mixture for someone with heart problems, experts say.
One 39-year-old man who survived his ordeal and woke up giddy and missing his wallet, said he was careful not to let his drink out of his sight -- but unwittingly ingested the drug after the sex worker secretly applied it to her nipples.
Other victims of the ruse included a South African tourist and a government legal advisor, Lopez said, adding there could be many more victims who had opted not to go to the police.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/new...TRIDST_0_OUKOE-UK-LIFE-MEXICO-PROSTITUTES.XML