# Do burglars really use gas to put the occupants to sleep? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252 "2010-08-14T16:02:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/41 "2010-10-19T11:28:50Z")
Where in the world is it easier for a criminal to obtain quantities of a safe and effective anesthesia gas than it is for them to obtain money? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/42 "2010-10-19T11:38:29Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Where in the world is it easier for a criminal to obtain quantities of a safe and effective anesthesia gas than it is for them to obtain money? This is an excellent point. You would have to take the risk of committing two crimes, the first one more difficult than the ultimate goal. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/43 "2010-10-19T12:18:47Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > This is an excellent point. You would have to take the risk of committing two crimes, the first one more difficult than the ultimate goal. Unless you could get the stuff _legally_. What’s scarier than a crook pumping sleeping gas into your home to rob your sleep? _Dentists_ doing that! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/44 "2010-10-19T12:27:22Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > This sounds like bull to me. Read this part:Why would the doors be left open if there were running air conditioning units? Presumably they were running, because what would be the point of releasing gas into them if they weren’t? The story isn’t even internally consistent. Yeah, and what’s with the purported air conditioner injection? I’m no A/C expert, but they don’t generally pull air in from the outside, they recirculate the interior air. (or else they’d be horribly inefficient) The part of the A/C on the outside is the compressor, and it doesn’t pull _in_ air, it just has a fan that blows heat _away_ from the compressor. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/45 "2010-10-19T12:32:57Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Yeah, and what’s with the purported air conditioner injection? I’m no A/C expert, but they don’t generally pull air in from the outside, they recirculate the interior air. (or else they’d be horribly inefficient) The part of the A/C on the outside is the compressor, and it doesn’t pull _in_ air, it just has a fan that blows heat _away_ from the compressor. As I read it, they break in and then add the gas to the A/C. So the entry is achieved before the victims are affected. Sounds like far more effort and risk than a criminal would be willing to take for petty thefts to me, but I am a very lazy and risk-adverse person. ---
**Author:** ![enigmatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@enigmatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigmatic)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/46 "2010-10-19T12:41:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Unless you could get the stuff legally. What’s scarier than a crook pumping sleeping gas into your home to rob your sleep? Dentists doing that! You might be on to something, I’ve never liked dentists. Seriously though, the can’t be many criminals who are willing to acquire serious technical knowledge and materials, and put up with a 20-30% fatality rate in order to commit what is essentially petty theft. If people were doing this the bodies would be stacking up like cord wood, and there would be a ton of evidence for police to find when they started looking into it (gas doesn’t magically vanish, it leaves residue) ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/47 "2010-10-19T12:55:42Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > As I read it, they break in and then add the gas to the A/C. So the entry is achieved before the victims are affected. Sounds like far more effort and risk than a criminal would be willing to take for petty thefts to me, but I am a very lazy and risk-adverse person. In all the A/C units I’ve seen, you can’t just “add the gas to the A/C”. The A/C isn’t a big tank of air, nor does it pump air in or out of the room. They’re basically fans with an attached cooling system and all the air that comes out has been sucked in only seconds ago. It’d be no more effective than dumping a can of gas in front of a ventilator. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/48 "2010-10-19T18:58:36Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Also worth noting, just because a respectable news sources says something is possible (unless they cite a reputable and relevant source), that doesn’t mean they _know what they’re talking about._ The vast majority of journalists studied journalism or related things in school. Not a lot of them studied anesthetics, firearms, aviation, or many other fields that they write about. That doesn’t make them bad journalists, that just makes them lousy anesthesiologists. > > They have to get most, if not all, of their information on such topics second-hand, and if they don’t get it from a good source, or if they just misunderstand the information given, then they very well might put out complete nonsense. I recall an article talking about Dick Cheney shooting a guy in the face with a 20mm gun (as opposed to a 20 gauge shotgun or whichever he was using, loaded with birdshot). For clarification, 20mm is the same diameter as the cannon rounds that fighter jets shoot at each other. And we’ve all seen the screenshot from CNN talking about the Space Shuttle Columbia traveling 17 times the speed of light. Please note (once again), just because you have crappy, badly-trained “journalists” and sub-standard media in the US, does not mean this applies to the media in other countries! I don’t know how reputable the Daily Mail is (and there are disreputable newspapers in the UK, too), but I know what newspapers and TV channels I trust in my own country, and these journalists have been trained on more than just “journalist school”. A science reporter usually has studied science, or he knows good experts (some experts appear regularly on TV, others are unnamed). It’s not that difficult to get real experts, either: you call up the local high-ranking police spokesperson or Chief. You call the local university to talk to the Department of …, or, in medical matters, the local clinic and talk to their chief of … ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/49 "2011-09-10T14:22:27Z")
It seems this sort of story rears its head around this time every year. This time it’s not just the Daily Mail, it’s the “more reputable” newspapers the Telegraph and Guardian: [Roberto Mancini targeted by Sardinian sleeping gas gang](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8740296/Roberto-Mancini-targeted-by-Sardinian-sleeping-gas-gang.html) [‘Sleeping gas’ thieves target super-rich at Italian billionaires’ resort](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/30/italy-thieves-sleeping-gas-sardinia) At least they have finally found out what sort of gas is being used! But before printing these stories, they might have had a quick look at the website of the [Royal College of Anaesthetists](http://www.rcoa.ac.uk/index.asp?PageID=987) > [@](#): > > Recent RCoA statement on alleged gassing in motor vehicles > 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 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. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/50 "2011-09-10T14:41:41Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > Please note (once again), just because you have crappy, badly-trained “journalists” and sub-standard media in the US, does not mean this applies to the media in other countries! I don’t know how reputable the Daily Mail is (and there are disreputable newspapers in the UK, too) I think [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eBT6OSr1TI) might help clear that up. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/51 "2011-09-10T14:45:38Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > No, it’s an old urban legend, which has been around for decades. Originally the robbers were supposed to be pumping the gas into sleeping compartments on overnight trains. Then they supposedly moved on to truck drivers sleeping in the cabs of their trucks I actually know somebody that this happened to, somebody whose word I trust. I used to work in a commercial dealership and so of course dealt with a lot of international truck drivers. One of those drivers was the father of a good friend, a very nice man, tee-total, just a solid average man. I am trying to remember the details (this was two years ago), but basically he was sleeping in the cab in a truckstop in France, part of a convoy of three. The other drivers noticed the door of his cab laying open the next morning and went to investigate. The door had been forced and they found him out cold in the back. They were able to awaken him, and apart from being very groggy he didnt say he suffered any sickness or anything. A quick search found that his passport, some cash, and a few other items were missing. He of course hadnt heard a thing. I had the story corroborated by one of the other drivers in the following weeks. I know people will still say myth, and that it is all just a story, but I can only shrug my shoulders for them, I can vouch for the characters involved, and I know it does happen. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/52 "2011-09-10T14:57:15Z")
I too, am torn between the logic of this being an urban myth, and my own experience of being gassed unconscious in my own bed. That it was my own gas may, or may not be relevant. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/53 "2011-09-10T22:56:35Z")
Bucketybuck - but assuming that, yeah, he was doped, is there any reason to assume he was gassed? Rather than, for example, being slipped a roofie in his truckstop cup of tea? The fact that his door was open seems to make gassing less likely. Wouldn’t that mean the gas would escape and he’d wake up faster? ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/54 "2011-09-10T23:36:19Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > Bucketybuck - but assuming that, yeah, he was doped, is there any reason to assume he was gassed? Rather than, for example, being slipped a roofie in his truckstop cup of tea? The fact that his door was open seems to make gassing less likely. Wouldn’t that mean the gas would escape and he’d wake up faster? I dont honestly think it would all that easy to spike his food or drink, unless maybe one of the cook staff did it. But in saying that I really have no idea what his evening had been like. I don’t even know if there was a cafe at the truck stop or if it was just a large open area. So I can’t safely say one way or another how any alternative possibilities could have played out. I wouldnt say the door being open was important though. Any theft would be of the smash and grab type, once they thought he was out cold they would be in and out in seconds, it wouldnt really matter if the door was open. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/55 "2011-09-11T01:50:01Z")
> [@Dahu](#): > > It seems this sort of story rears its head around this time every year. This time it’s not just the Daily Mail, it’s the “more reputable” newspapers the Telegraph and Guardian: > > [Roberto Mancini targeted by Sardinian sleeping gas gang](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8740296/Roberto-Mancini-targeted-by-Sardinian-sleeping-gas-gang.html) According to this story the “Sardinian sleeping gas gang” tried to rob this house. They were heard breaking in and police and security guards arrived within minutes, chasing them off. The subsequent search revealed no evidence of sleeping gas in the air, hoses, gas cylinders, gas masks or.. well anything at all related to sleeping gas. So not only is this dastardly gang gassing people as they sleep, they are doing so _without actually using any gas_. Am I the only person who finds this to be compelling evidence that the robbers aren’t using sleeping gas? When they successfully complete a robbery, no sign of gas is found. When they are disturbed during a robbery, no sign of gas is found. When they are arrested with theirloot, no sign of gas is found. In the entire history of the world, has any burglar ever been caught with sleeping gas in their possession? Burglars are caught all the time burglary tools, either at the scene of the crime or when they are arrested at their homes. They routinely drop their tolls when they run from police and security guards. Yet apparently they can “escape into thick undergrowth” carrying 100kg gas cylinders and still manage to evade the police. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/56 "2011-09-11T01:50:16Z")
_- Insert zombie gas joke here -_ ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/57 "2011-09-11T01:59:18Z")
**davidm** , it was the GAS I tells ya - the GAAAAAASsss!! ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/58 "2011-09-11T02:04:27Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Am I the only person who finds this to be compelling evidence that the robbers aren’t using sleeping gas? When they successfully complete a robbery, no sign of gas is found. When they are disturbed during a robbery, no sign of gas is found. When they are arrested with theirloot, no sign of gas is found. Hey now, don’t let a little thing like facts or proper journalistic practice get in the way of a good story. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dufus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c77e96/32.png) [@Dufus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dufus)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/59 "2011-09-11T02:25:17Z")
Temik is a deadly poison available in the U.S. In South Africa it can be bought on street corners from the same guys selling drugs. It is known as ‘two step’ there. It is used to kill the dogs in the yard of the target house. In some cases it has been heated and vaporized in the open windows of the target house to incapacitate the occupants. Sometimes the occupants die, sometimes they don’t, makes no difference to the burgulars. Cite: Google the words; Temik, two step, South Africa ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252/60 "2011-09-11T02:26:01Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > …he was sleeping in the cab in a truckstop in France, part of a convoy of three. The other drivers noticed the door of his cab laying open the next morning and went to investigate. The door had been forced and they found him out cold in the back. They were able to awaken him, and apart from being very groggy he didn’t say he suffered any sickness or anything. A quick search found that his passport, some cash, and a few other items were missing. He of course hadnt heard a thing. > > I had the story corroborated by one of the other drivers in the following weeks. I know people will still say myth, and that it is all just a story, but I can only shrug my shoulders for them, I can vouch for the characters involved, and I know it does happen. Let’s see if I’ve got the facts straight here: 1. A middle aged man was alone in a public place which, by definition, is frequented by travelers and itinerants. 2. The man passed out on the cab of his vehicle. 3. While he was passed out he was robbed by a person or person’s unknown. Are those all the relevant \*facts \*as you know them? Because if so, I can’t quite see how you made the leap to “He must have been gassed”. People get robbed when they pass out all the time. It’s literally a daily occurrence. When a man passes out in the cab of his vehicle. Alone,. For eight hours. In the middle of the night. At a truckstop. It would be surprising if he _wasn’t_ robbed. Right? I mean, I don’t live in the most dangerous part of the world, but truckstops are notorious for attracting unsavoury and untraceable characters. Let me put it this way: would you volounteer to be aneasthetisied and left unattended at a truckstop for even one hour? Because I sure as hell wouldn’t. So if we agree that it’s not exactly implausible that a man, who falls unconscious, from natural causes, at a rest stop could be robbed by passing opportunists, why exactly are you assuming that gas had to be involved? Perfectly healthy people fall unconscious all the time for no reason. I have known it to happen to at least three of my friends and it happened to me on one occasion. I was in a friend’s backyard, and I felt slightly queasy, I sat down, and woke up a minute or so later to be told the ambulance was on its way. I was kept in for observation for 12 hours and was was given an ECG and EEG and had blood drawn. And a month later my doctor informed me that I was as healthy as a horse and that it was “just one of those things”. I was also told that it is perfectly normal and will happen to pretty much everybody at some time in their life. Apparently people just pass out for no reason from time to time. As the Doc pointed out, there are thousands of incredibly complicated processes that have to be fine tuned literally every second just to keep us conscious. The amazing part isn’t that occasionally we pass out. The amazing part is that it happens so rarely that we are surprised by it. So I’m going to propose a mundane explanation. This man was sitting in the cab of his truck when he passed out. An opportunist passed by and noticed his odd posture. The tapped on the window to see if he would respond. When he didn’t respond they assumed he was passed out drunk and, seeing he was alone, they forced the door and robbed him. Does that fit all the known facts? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burglars-really-use-gas-to-put-the-occupants-to-sleep/550252.md?page=4)