In a scam that has being doing the rounds for some years, a Mexican expat returning home for the holidays from the United States was drugged and robbed aboard a bus en route from the Guadalajara Airport to the Central Camionera Vieja (old bus station) in the city center.
As the journey got underway, Eduardo Cruz, 56, from Bakersfield, California, was offered a drink of orange juice from a fellow traveler, with whom he had gotten into a conversation.
At the bus station, Cruz began to feel dizzy but he put that down to tiredness from the long journey.
The next thing he knew was waking up in the Green Cross clinic located next to the Central Vieja.
To his horror, he was missing all his luggage and 2,000 dollars in cash.
This newspaper has reported on similar cases of travelers being drugged by casual acquaintances met on bus journeys.
Authorities warn travelers not to accept “drinks, food, medicines or gifts” from unknown people and not to trust anyone they meet casually during a bus journey, however friendly and honest they may appear.