Two Israelis drugged in Lima and robbed while unconscious for 17 hours

Yoav Paz and Oren Avidan, two Israelis in their 20s traveling in South America, say they were drugged and robbed after a late-night meeting with two local women in Lima, Peru, several days ago. The pair had left a party and were walking back to their hostel when they struck up a conversation with the women, then went with them to buy whiskey and continue drinking at the hostel.

Avidan told N12 that he was tired and did not want to drink, but the women pushed them to keep going. He said they drank whiskey with ginger soda, apparently chosen so they would not taste the drug. “In the second glass everything suddenly got blurry,” he said. The last thing he remembers is one of the women trying to get his iPhone passcode. “We just vanished and fainted on the spot,” he said.

Paz and Avidan lost consciousness for about 17 hours. When they woke up, their hostel room had been emptied. Avidan said, “They drugged us with some insane substance and we slept for 17 hours.” He added that he first thought only a few minutes had passed, then realized the room was completely bare.

In a panic, Avidan ran into the street looking for the women and even climbed and jumped over the hostel fence. He later met other Israelis who saw his condition and took him to a local hospital. After tests, the two filed a police complaint. They said the thieves took phones, wallets, clothes, backpacks, sandals, shoes and even toothbrushes, leaving them “with nothing.” The men are now warning other Israelis to be careful, saying the women looked completely normal and “could happen to anyone.”