Narcotic gas attacks. (1 Viewer)

savantuk

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Jul 3, 2009
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I'm wondering just how prevalent these have become, particularly on the continent - does anybody have any experience?? I have read of two or three incidents involving narcotic attacks, but they do seem to be few and far between. It's nearly time for my annual couple of months in Europe, and I'm wondering, should I be worried?

As far as Narcotic attack alarms are concerned - do they work, or are some, as I suspect just butane/propane/CO2 alarms/hydrocarbon gas alarms rebadged as narcotic alarms?? I'm guessing that a proper 'Narcotic alarm' would have to be pretty sophisticated given the spectrum of noxious and poisonous gasses that could be used in an attack.
 

656

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Jul 30, 2007
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Hi

There are lots of posts on this, do a search and you will find out just what a can of worms this is.
 

Douglas

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It pprobablyhas never hhappened

I have never met anyone that can report first hand that they have had such an attack and it is my belief that it is an urban myth.

I could be cynical and say that it was a rummer started by the manufacturers of the detectors to sell their product.
Doug...

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scotjimland

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Jul 25, 2007
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Hi

There is absolutely no documented evidence of anyone being robbed where gas was used .. no police or hospital reports, no victims statements and no dead bodies .. .. only 'a friend of a friend I knew' type stories that pop up with regularity and without proof..

If anyone has such proof then let them show it now..

jim
 

hilldweller

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If anyone has such proof then let them show it now..
jim

Happened to me three times last week. One minute I was just sipping a small glass of wine, next thing it's breakfast time. God know what they used, my head was terrible.

Luck was on my side, nothing worth pinching or they were disturbed.

It will happen again, I know, must get one of those alarms.
 

Pronto

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I agree with all the above, the following is worth a read though and an alarm may have some benefit ...

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Jim

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This text is lifted from the Motorhome Security Handbook.

There cannot be many that have not heard the stories of
motorhomers being gassed at French and Spanish motorway
service stations. Stories spread rapidly, with more or less the
same story being re-told. Often just the people and places change.
We recall and spread these stories because they frighten us. The
thought of being asleep in a motorhome at the mercy of an intruder
while they rob us would fill anyone with dread.

Waking up to discover that you have been robbed, and that the robber
had to be right there in the motorhome with you, just defies all logic,
How do you explain it? How was it possible to have been robbed
without waking? However, we have heard stories that some people have been
gassed and then robbed, so this is the only logical explanation; we were
gassed too!

Except it is not logical at all, how did the robbers get the gas into the
motorhome? How did they know how much to put in? How did they
ensure that all the occupants, no matter their differing body-weights,
got just the right dose so as not to kill them? If this substance is easy
to administer and leaves no after effects then why is it not used in
medicine? Why do the crooks that possess this ‘wonder gas’ restrict its
use to a few British holiday makers and the odd lorry driver?

I think that people assume gas when there is no clear evidence. Maybe
this is the right assumption to make, but in my professional opinion,
based on the evidence I have seen to date, I think the gas explanation
is used too quickly and without thinking it through. Thousands of
people wake at home to find that they have been robbed, I have not
heard it suggested that gas is used. Maybe it has.

The fact is, we often do wake up, and there are hundreds of cases
where motorhomers are woken by the sound of a thief trying to get
in to their motorhome. It’s when we do not wake, that we start to
suspect gas might have been used as some way of explanation.

I have been a security professional most of my adult life, but I was
once robbed in a hotel room while I slept. I am sure I wasn't gassed, I
had drunk just a couple of glasses of wine, but that is the only defence
I have. I had the mickey taken out of me for years by my team mates,
how I wish the gas excuse was around then, I am sure I would have
clung to it to save my blushes

Maybe the police do the same; “Why didn't they wake? Maybe they
were gassed!” It’s an easy explanation, case closed, crime number
issued. As a security consultant in London I have known of countless
hotels where whole corridors of rooms have been robbed without
the occupants waking. The odd one or two that were woken or who
weren’t asleep accepted a mumbled, “sorry wrong room.” On investigations
no one thought gas was used, but it may as well have been, as
tired or tipsy travellers once asleep will sleep through most things!
The thing is, I suspect that we all sleep a little sounder than we
think. We have all been asked, did you hear that thunder-storm last
night?And we didn’t hear a thing. I have slept through the screams of
my kids nightmares. In the Army I once took a rifle from a young
sleeping soldier who should have been on guard, he wasn’t gassed,
just very tired and sleeping soundly. Manyof you, like me I am sure,
can get into bed with our partner without
waking them, or they can sneak out of bed without waking you.
Hopefully the thief isn't getting in bed with us, he is probably in the motorhome for
less that 45 seconds and taking the wallet from the bedside table and
your camera from the dinette.

I think it is sad that people are put off travelling on the continent
because of the fear of being gassed. The press and police are guilty of
hyping the stories further by suggesting gassing without a shred of
evidence to support the theory other than "if they didn't wake they
must of been gassed"

In September 2007 The Royal College of Anaesthetists released the a
statement on their website, debunking the gassing stories. They are
also of the opinion that this is a myth. However, you might be of the
opinion that the Anaesthetists “would say that” How embarrassing for
them if some oik with a can of “damp Start” can do what they trained
years to learn!

I personally think that the gassing stories are an urban myth. If any
readers here are worried about the gassing then please do buy a
detector if it makes you feel better, but be warned, if you are parked
in a public place, where there is a good chance of being robbed, the
comfort you derive from your detector might make you sleep a little
too soundly, and then who knows what might happen!


Their statement by the The Royal College of Anaesthetists is shown
here. Have a read and judge for yourself.
Despite the increasing numbers of reports of people being gassed in
motor-homes or commercial trucks in France, and the warning put
out by the Foreign Office for travellers to be aware of this danger, this
College remains of the view that this is a myth.
It is the view of the College that it would not be possible to render
someone unconscious by blowing ether, chloroform or any of the
currently used volatile anaesthetic agents, through the window of a
motor-home without their knowledge, even if they were sleeping at
the time. Ether is an extremely pungent agent and a relatively weak
anaesthetic by modern standards and has a very irritant affect on
the air passages, causing coughing and sometimes vomiting. It takes
some time to reach unconsciousness, even if given by direct application
to the face on a cloth, and the concentration needed by some
sort of spray administered directly into a room would be enormous.
The smell hangs around for days and would be obvious to anyone the
next day. Even the more powerful modern volatile agents would need
to be delivered in tankerloads of carrier gas or by a large compressor.
Potential agents, such as the one used by the Russians in the Moscow
siege are few in number and difficult to obtain. Moreover, these drugs
would be too expensive for the average thief to use.
The other important point to remember is that general anaesthetics
are potentially very dangerous, which is why they are only administered
in the UK by doctors who have undergone many years of postgraduate
training in the subject and who remain with the unconscious
patient throughout the anaesthetic. Unsupervised patients are likely
to die from obstruction of the airway by their tongues falling back. In
the Moscow seige approximately 20% of the people died, many probably
from airway obstruction directly related to the agent used.
If there was a totally safe, odourless, potent, cheap anaesthetic agent
available to thieves for this purpose it is likely the medical profession
would know about it and be investigating its use in anaesthetic
practice.
13 Sep 2007
 
J

johnandcarol

Deleted User
The same reports were slipping around the HGV drivers when they chatted, normally told to drivers on their first trip abroad, by drivers who have never been!

"They squirt some easystart up the night heater intake"............if they did that, theyd still be trying to put the flames out on themselves when you came out to piss on them!

"They use dental gas to knock you out".............yup, they are ex dental anesthatists's driven to crime, so know how many people, their weight, and that of any animals...they know the cubic size of your interior, and how many vents are open..........:whatthe:

I have NEVER, met a driver it has happened to personally, and in my years on recovery, have never been involved in repatriating a vehicle or passengers who have suffered this fate!


Myself, i believe that a careless trucker who gets robbed, has woven a merry tale, as probably, have maybe the odd MH owner....but i doubt it.
I have travelled in croatia/Slovenia/Italy/Naples and quite a few points in between, and as long as you take security seriously, I doubt you will have a problem.
The most accurate scource of info, is the forum..........and its all factual info:thumb:
 
Nov 6, 2008
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Narcotic Gas!

Oh Please!
Where do these "robbers" get this narcotic gas in handy to carry containers? I have never met anyone who has been "gassed". But, plenty of people, who know someone, who knows someone who has been! Always third hand encounter.
l imagine that these robbers go around dressed like Batman and Robin, with a utility belt full of "bat-gas" ready to rob all the motorhomes they come across. "No Robin", "lets not rob that bank, full of money", "Nor that jewelers, full of gems, worth millions", "lets save our bat-gas for unsuspecting motorhome owners, who may have a few quid, and the odd credit card, and we will worry about the rottweiler they may have, once we get in".

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robinmclaren

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police advised us about this

while in france last week we pulled into a lovely airies on the main toll motorway from calais to paris and the police pulled in and advised us that we would be gassed and locks drilled and handed us a letter in diferent languages explaining this ( i think may still be in mh will check when back in it next week ) we were advised to move on to a services airies , my only thourght was to go back and sit in the woods with a crossbow and wait for them to arrive and put a bolt through their car , that should stop them doing at again ( would be so funny ) , a englishman has his castle and should protect it well ( even if it does have wheels ) , scum like that are just a waste of good air
myth or not i will take care
 

Jim

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excellent Jim.......

now, any more 'snippets' from your book so we can copy, save and print thus not have to buy a copy....:Doh::ROFLMAO:

at 160 pages and 50,000 words that would need a lot of "snippets" Its a lot easier toLink Removed::bigsmile:

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G4GMO

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I am regularly exposed to gas attacks but no one has ever stolen anything. Note to Helen: You really must stop eating baked beans. :ROFLMAO: Thank heaven she doesn't read what I post.

You can worry about all sorts of things but you do really have to look at things in perspective, the statistics of people who think they have been robbed by being gassed are very small. You have more chance of having an accident (so please be careful and I hope you don't) or being robbed when you are away from your caravanette (just for pappajohn :roflmto:) and again I hope you don't. Waiting for the screw driver in my neck :ROFLMAO:

More to the point people who think they have been gassed and robbed may not realise quite how soundly they sleep.
 
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pappajohn

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I am regularly exposed to gas attacks but no one has ever stolen anything. Note to Helen: You really must stop eating baked beans. :ROFLMAO: Thank heaven she doesn't read what I post.

You can worry about all sorts of things but you do really have to look at things in perspective, the statistics of people who think they have been robbed by being gassed are very small. You have more chance of having an accident (so please be careful and I hope you don't) or being robbed when you are away from your caravanette (just for pappajohn :roflmto:) and again I hope you don't. Waiting for the screw driver in my neck :ROFLMAO:

More to the point people who think they have been gassed and robbed may not realise quite how soundly they sleep.

Grrrr!!!!!

do you favour philips, pozi or flat blade?

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madbluemad

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I remember watching a television programme were an ex burglar was being interviewed about his ciminal career so to speak. He said that very often when he was burgling somebodys house he would enter the beroom to find the occupants asleep.

If they woke up he would give them a threatening look and tell them to go back to sleep and they always did. No gas required.

Cheers
Jim
:Smile:
 
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Happened to me three times last week. One minute I was just sipping a small glass of wine, next thing it's breakfast time. God know what they used, my head was terrible.

Luck was on my side, nothing worth pinching or they were disturbed.

It will happen again, I know, must get one of those alarms.

That might be my fault, sorry.:Blush:

I used to keep a booze monkey who, in the middle of the night, would nick all my money, kick me in the head and p**s in my mouth :winky:

I lost him some time ago, you must have picked him up somewhere :Doh: sorry :roflmto:

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hilldweller

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I used to keep a booze monkey who, in the middle of the night, would nick all my money, kick me in the head and p**s in my mouth :winky:

I think that come under "many a true word".

To be serious, I have found 2 years of MHings as encouraged too much food and alcohol. It's just too easy, sat in the box, booze and snacks at arms length, little else to do but sit there in the evenings watching a DVD and indulging.

And if you get near Funsters with 6 pack holders built into their chairs, well.......
 

castalla

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We spend a lot of time in Europe and the U.K. we have met lots of people with tales to tell but whenever i ask if they know the victim or have been told first hand by the victim, the answer is always no but! Blah Blah Blah!
:shout::boxing:
 

Jim

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Yes it's always a friend of a friend's Brother-in-laws mates uncle who knows a bloke who brothers best mate met someone on holiday who heard that it happened to someone.. ::bigsmile:

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johnp10

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Happened to me three times last week. One minute I was just sipping a small glass of wine, next thing it's breakfast time. God know what they used, my head was terrible.

Luck was on my side, nothing worth pinching or they were disturbed.

It will happen again, I know, must get one of those alarms.

That happens to me occasionally, Brian.
The gasser / thief who visits us is a benevolent one.
Although he clears my wallet out, he fills the wife's purse at the same time!
 

slobadoberbob

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I know of an attack

I know of an attack.. I heard it from this mate that says his sister husband best friend who has an uncle was in France when this French family told him at an English family had been robbed after a gas attack:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

God how many time:Sad::Sad::Sad::Sad::Sad:



Bob:Blush:
 

darklord

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I was reading a report by a commercial vehicle insurer, who stated in part of his report, that there have never EVER been any proven events of truck drivers being gassed before their loads were stolen.

Gassing has been used by drivers as a reason for losing their load, but, not being present, being pissed, or collusion were deemed to be the more likely reasons, and in a lot of cases were later proven to be so.

People tend to mask their own clumsiness with wild claims that others are likely to be sympathetic with. A recent poster popped into a garage for a coffee leaving his MH open, and was burgled........just as thousands of people leave their back/front doors open for a minute at home, and are burgled......once again, nothing to do with MH's, more to do with people.

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Feb 27, 2011
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Wow talk about brining the dead back to life:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: Did anyone see the original date of this thread....

The Royal Collage of Anesthetists put this one to bed a while ago....
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Apr 29, 2009
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Wow talk about brining the dead back to life:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: Did anyone see the original date of this thread....

The Royal Collage of Anesthetists put this one to bed a while ago....
Link Removed

That's the one I was looking for...I actually spoke to a guy on the aires at Forges les Eaux in 2008 who swore blind he'd been gassed in France a couple of years previously...I said Nope your talking cobblers but he was adamant he'd been done..he was telling me this at 3:30 IN THE AFTERNOON...and he was most of the way down his second bottle of red...When we left the next day at 10:00 his curtains were still closed...so draw your own conclusions...
I still say like others it is an urban myth..but I remain aware to the possibility of being shall we say attacked...
 

Jaws

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And as Des and Donna recently discovered.. A moment being lax will cost you dear

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As told, Donna was in bed, as was their 16 year old son

The only gas present was in a cigarette lighter !!

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slobadoberbob

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always someone else's fault

I was reading a report by a commercial vehicle insurer, who stated in part of his report, that there have never EVER been any proven events of truck drivers being gassed before their loads were stolen.

Gassing has been used by drivers as a reason for losing their load, but, not being present, being pissed, or collusion were deemed to be the more likely reasons, and in a lot of cases were later proven to be so.

People tend to mask their own clumsiness with wild claims that others are likely to be sympathetic with. A recent poster popped into a garage for a coffee leaving his MH open, and was burgled........just as thousands of people leave their back/front doors open for a minute at home, and are burgled......once again, nothing to do with MH's, more to do with people.

Always someone else's fault...:Blush:

I have a friend, who's wife always says.. there should be a law against that.... never the idiot forgot to lock the house or the motor home. but then that is life.


Bob:Eeek:

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