Taxi Passenger escapes alleged drugging attempt

Reports of taxi drivers trying to drug their passengers with mysterious sprays and chemical-soaked rags have been making the rounds of social media sites and even the local news for some time now.

Buenafe Dumoran, who reportedly almost became a victim of the same modus operandi last April 23, recounted her harrowing experience in a Facebook post to serve as a warning to other taxi passengers.

Dumoran said that she got a reservation from GrabTaxi, the Taxi Booking App, going to Dominga Street, Maynila from Taguig, but wasn’t able to reach the drop-off location as the driver acted suspiciously and supposedly tried to use a special spray while they were traveling.

Upon reaching Palar, the driver parked the cab while Dumoran went out to buy goat meat. Three minutes later, she returned to the cab and found that the doors were locked.

“So I went near the driver’s seat and knocked on the window. I saw him holding a small plastic bag with white powder. I noticed that there was already some on his palm and he was rubbing it with his finger and sniffing it.”

Despite seeing driver’s strange action, she still entered the cab again.

As her suspicions arose, she started calling her boyfriend and friends with the driver looking at her every time she phoned somebody. He also was apparently searching for something under the seat using a flashlight.

After few minutes, she heard the sound of a spray and she soon had difficulty breathing and began to feel numb.

The cab was then caught in traffic along the service road so she told the driver to let her off there. The cab driver refused so she resorted to banging on the door and opening it to make her escape.

Feeling disoriented, she ended up in the middle of the road asking for help. “Luckily, there was a motorcycle that stopped for me and he brought me to the nearest convenience store.”

“When I got inside the 7-11, I asked someone to give me some water. After drinking, I was able to be a little calm. Then, I called my friend and my boyfriend to pick me up. After some time, they came and we went to Pasay General Hospital.”

The same night, her boyfriend reported the incident on the Grab Taxi Facebook page.

Dumoran addressed the issue in social media to warn commuters about the danger they may be exposed to from opportunistic drivers that are taking advantage of passengers.

“I AM DOING THIS NOT TO RUIN ANYONE OR ANY COMPANY’S REPUTATION, BUT I AM JUST SHARING MY EXPERIENCE AS A FORMER GRABTAXI USER…BE CAREFUL WHENEVER YOU BOOK A TAXI.”

Grab Taxi has yet to give a statement regarding the supposed incident.

NOTE: Grab Taxi addressed a similar complaint last year wherein a passenger alleged that the driver tried to drug her.