“Zombies of Kinshasa”: Bombé, the Congolese drug that turns those who consume it into “zombies”

The ‘zombies of Kinshasa’ is the name that the Der Spiegel media attributes to these people. These are not really zombies, but victims of a new drug that is devastating territories of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The drug causes men and women to walk slowly and lose all iota of emotion on their faces.

Where does this drug come from?

To obtain this drug, dealers unscrew the catalytic converter from parked cars and remove its contents, replacing it with metallic threads. The investigation of the medium Spiegel indicates that mechanics report that several customers have delivered their car in that condition. The catalysts have some chemical compounds like tramadol, nitrile, dolarene, and ampicillin.

Drug use has its reason for being in territories devastated by poverty and crime. Without going any further, Kinshasha, one of the least livable cities on the planet. Almost 15 million inhabitants of Kinshasha do not have a permanent job, so this drug is the way out of their problems.

The drug has the appearance of a crystal with brown powder. Along with that powder, white pills crumble and come together. By combining the pills, young people confirm to Der Spiegel that “they get an appetite” as otherwise “they would not eat anything for two days.”

An official investigator declared for the newspaper Der Spiegel that this drug has become an epidemic that has reached the eyes of the government of the republic.

The consequences of this drug are irreversible, and according to Patrice Kapia, head of the Congolese addiction program for Der Spiegel, “heart and lung problems as well as cancer” can occur. This plague has in turn left several deaths on the road after its consumption. (I)