Mexico's Drug War Falls Victim to 'Devil's Ouija' Hoax Ricardo Castillo - The News
go to original January 3, 2013

It may be no laughing matter but observers just can’t refrain from giggling.

Both the Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) of the U.S. Embassy and the Mexican armed forces involved in the $1.4 billion Merida Initiative have been swindled.

Here’s the scoop.

A Brit named Jim McCormick sold the U.S. State Department a narcotics detection device that turned out to be an empty box.

The anti-narcotics units of the Mexican Army and Navy have used the GT200 for the past two years to detect explosives and drugs.

It’s a handheld device that McCormick’s Global Technical Ltd. sold them for 150 million pesos.

The LT200 was used for the past two years as the latest technological marvel until McCormick was arrested in England and found guilty of being a swindler.

He’s in jail now.

The “Devil’s Ouija,” as the gizmo came to be known among Mexican drug cops, was supposed to operate without batteries, use the handler’s own body energy and, with different “chips,” detect the presence of molecules in explosives, drugs, gold, ivory, bills, tobacco and even human bodies. Due to its high sensitivity, the LT200 can detect these materials at a distance of 700 yards and even operates underwater. Wow!

Last week, NAS issued a statement saying that it is replacing the Devil’s Ouija for better, “certified” equipment.

It is, as usual, too late to avoid the obvious embarrassment.

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