Fat-sucking "vampire" gang kills victims for black market trade

This wins today's "What the Fuck?" award:

By ANDREW WHALEN, Associated Press Writer--Fri Nov 20, 3:10 am

LIMA, Peru – Police say a gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people and draining fat from the corpses to sell on the black market for use in cosmetics, although medical experts say they doubt a major market for fat exists.

Three suspects confessed to killing five people, but the gang may have been involved in dozens more, said Col. Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru's anti-kidnapping police. He said one suspect claimed the gang wasn't the only one doing such killings.

Mejia said two of the suspects were arrested carrying bottles of liquid human fat and told police it was worth $60,000 a gallon ($15,000 a liter). The fat was sold to intermediaries in Peru's capital, Lima, and police suspect it was then sold to cosmetic companies in Europe, Mejia said Thursday, but he could not confirm any sales.

Medical experts expressed doubt about an international black market for human fat, though it does have cosmetic applications. A dermatology professor at Yale University, Dr. Lisa Donofrio, speculated that a small market may exist for "human fat extracts" to keep skin supple, but she said that scientifically such treatments are "pure baloney."

At a news conference, police showed reporters two bottles of fat recovered from the suspects and a photo of the rotting head of a 27-year-old male victim. Suspect Elmer Segundo Castillejos, 29, led police to the head, recovered in a coca-growing valley last month, Mejia said.

Mejia said Castillejos recounted how the gang cut off its victims' heads, arms and legs, removed the organs, then suspended the torsos from hooks above candles that warmed the flesh as fat dripped into tubs below.

Six members of the gang remain at large, Mejia said. Among them was the band's alleged leader, Hilario Cudena, 56, who Castillejos told police has been killing people to extract human fat for more than three decades.

This year alone, at least 60 people are listed as missing in Huanuco province, where the gang allegedly operated, though the province is also home to drug-trafficking leftist rebels.

Mejia said police received a tip four months ago that human fat from the jungle was being sold in Lima. In August, he said, police infiltrated the band and later obtained some of the amber fluid, which a police lab confirmed as human fat.

On Nov. 3, police arrested Serapio Marcos Veramendi and Enedina Estela in a Lima bus station with a quart (a liter) of human fat in a soda bottle. Their testimony led to the arrest of Castillejos three days later at the same bus station.

The three are charged with homicide, criminal conspiracy, illegal firearms possession and drug trafficking, according to a statement from Lima Superior Court. Police said they were searching for the alleged buyer.

Police dubbed the gang the "Pishtacos" after a Peruvian myth dating to pre-Columbian times of men who killed to extract human fat, quartering their victims with machetes.

Medical authorities contacted by The Associated Press said human fat is used in anti-wrinkle treatments — but is always extracted from the patient who is being treated, usually from the stomach or buttocks.

"There would be a risk of immunological reaction that could lead to life-threatening consequences" if fat from someone else were used, said Dr. Neil Sadick, a professor of dermatology at Cornell Weill Medical College in New York.

Dr. Adam Katz, a professor of plastic surgery at the University of Virginia medical school, was incredulous when told about the Peruvian ring.

"I can't see why there would be a black market for fat," he said. "It doesn't make any sense at all, because in most countries we can get fat so readily and in such amounts from people who are willing and ready to donate that I don't see why there would ever be a black market for fat, of all tissues."

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Associated Press writers Franklin Briceno in Lima and Frank Bajak in Bogota contributed to this report.

NaNoWriMo time (or my excuse this month for no new posts)

Alright,

So like an absolute psycho I've decided to take on the impossible and participate in NaNoWriMo this month. What is NaNo you might ask? Well, it's that thing I'm not doing right now but should be. But to sum it up, basically it's when a whole bunch of crazed-ass people with a writing fetish churn out stories like a bat out of hell for the whole solid month of November and hope to make it to at least 50,000 words. If you're lucky you surpass this number. If not, you just spent a whole month of tearing out your hair for nothing. Yup, that's right. Nothing. No prizes, no money, no recognition, and if you're really luck you might not even get a pat on the back. So why do this? In essence...because it's fun (at least for those of us who really get into writer's SMBD). Interested? Check it out here---> NaNo!!!

So just what am I writing? Ah, well, that will remain a trusty secret till at least the first of next month. But I can tell you one thing and that is, of course, that it will be dark. Part horror, part dark urban fantasy, and part Chandler-esque mystery. But alas, you must wait. I do have one small thing to post and that is my self-designed cover for the first installment of the series (yes, I said series). So enjoy that. It's nothing to brag about. Here (and yes, the name is an alias):



Lastly I want to say to any who actually reads this shit, that I will definitely be slacking off here for at least the next month still (sorry about last month but...well, I can't really seem to be able to come up with a convincing excuse for that). I still go to school full time outside of this NaNo thing and occasionally I like to get off my fat ass and actively participate in life. I still owe my blog a Halloween post and I promise I WILL post that sometime this month as a belated treat.

P.S. IS ANYONE ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING IN NANOWRIMO THIS MONTH AND IS WRITING ON THE DARKER SIDE OF THINGS??? Shoot me a note! I'd love to hear from ya!!!

8 Diseases Scarier Than Swine Flu

Posted this from The Daily Beast. Thought it would be of particular interest in light of our current pandemic. By: Barbara Kantrowitz


While Americans are losing sleep over the H1N1 virus, researchers are studying other infectious threats. From drug-resistant TB to parasitic worms, Barbara Kantrowitz reports on eight diseases to watch—and worry about.

Swine flu may be hogging the headlines, but H1N1 is far from the only disease worrying researchers. The worldwide spread of HIV in the early 1980s marked the dawn of what many scientists believe is the age of pandemics, when diseases emerge from remote areas and strike people everywhere.

Blame the destruction of rainforests, the ubiquity of international travel and inadequate public health services in developing countries. Whatever the reason, it’s clear that what happens in the jungle no longer stays in the jungle. “In 1918, it took three years for the flu virus to get around the world,” says Dr. Parviez Hosseini, a senior research fellow with the Wildlife Trust, “but H1N1 traveled through vast parts of the world in just three months.”

“In 1918, it took three years for the flu virus to get around the world, but H1N1 traveled through vast parts of the world in just three months.”

Researchers studying the origins of HIV now believe that a form of the virus first infected humans in the 1930s. That means there are diseases out there now that could infect millions in the decades to come. But what are they? And which are the most dangerous? The greatest future threat could be a virus that researchers haven’t yet identified. “It’s a lot like predicting hurricanes and cyclones,” Hosseini says. “We know there’s a general phenomenon, but we can’t necessarily predict that there will be a disease of a particular severity next February.”

The majority of emerging infectious diseases originated in animals; they’re called zoonoses. Others threats come from forms of long-recognized illnesses that have become resistant to drugs. Here’s a sampling of what scientists around the world are watching:

1. Avian Influenza A (H5N1). In birds, this virus is highly contagious and can be deadly, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In general, bird flu does not cross over to humans. But of those few strains that have made the leap, H5N1 has infected the most people; more than half of those infected have died. As of last month, the World Health Organization reported 442 cases worldwide since 2003 and 262 deaths. The victims are usually children or young adults who have had direct or close contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces. Scientists worry that H5N1 may someday change in a way that will allow it to spread more easily and start a pandemic.

2. Chikungunya. A mosquito-borne disease, this virus has been blamed for many epidemics in Africa and Asia since it was first isolated in Tanzania in 1953. More recently, it has been found in Europe. Although fatalities are rare, the disease is debilitating, with patients suffering from fever, headaches, vomiting, rashes, and muscle and joint pain.

3. Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF). Another mosquito-borne infection, dengue is found primarily in urban and rural tropical and subtropical regions. The World Health Organization estimates that close to 40 percent of the world’s population lives in areas at risk for dengue, with about 50 million annual cases. DHF is a potentially fatal complication of dengue that was first recognized about 60 years ago. It’s the leading cause of hospitalization and death for children in dengue-prone areas. Four different but related viruses cause dengue. People who recover from one virus are immune to it, but may still be vulnerable to others. More than one dengue infection appears to increase the risk of DHF.

4. Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever and Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever. Ebola is the best-known member of this family of viruses. First discovered in 1976, it is often fatal. Symptoms come on suddenly and include a rash, fever, headaches, and vomiting along with internal and external bleeding. Although so far it has affected only people in Africa, scientists are concerned that Ebola could spread through an infected passenger on a plane. Marburg is much rarer. It was first recognized in 1967, when lab workers in Germany and Yugoslavia became ill after exposure to infected African monkeys. Since then, there have been a few scattered reports of the illness. About a quarter of cases are fatal, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

5. Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR TB). Although a number of medications are effective for TB, this bug fights off most of them. It’s estimated that there are at least 40,000 cases a year in 49 countries. Researchers suspect the number may be increasing because many TB patients don’t take their medicines regularly and get sick again, which increases their chances of getting the drug-resistant disease. The Centers for Disease Control say the risk of XDR TB in this country is still relatively low, but that could change if the disease spreads in other countries.

6. Helminths (parasitic worms). It’s estimated that almost 3 billion people around the world (including more than 40 million Americans) are infected with helminths such as flatworms, thorny-headed worms, or roundworms. They can live inside the gastrointestinal tract or, the case of roundworms, in the lymphatic system. People infected with helminthes are more vulnerable to other diseases.

7. Hendra Virus Disease and Nipah Virus Encephalitis. Scientists think both of these related viruses originated in the bat family. Human cases so far are relatively rare, and neither disease has been reported spreading from human to human. Hendra was named after the Brisbane, Australia, suburb where it was first reported in 1994. The virus apparently passed from infected horses to humans. Of the three reported Hendra cases, two were fatal, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Nipah was first spotted in a 1998-99 outbreak in Malaysia that killed about 100 people, who apparently got the disease from contact with infected pigs. Twelve more outbreaks have been reported in South Asia since then.

8. Japanese Encephalitis. It’s the leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia, with up to 50,000 cases reported annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control; 30 percent of those cases are fatal and another 30 percent of patients have serious ongoing neurological problems. So far, less than one case a year has been reported among U.S. civilians or military personnel living in or traveling to Asia but researchers are concerned because it appears that the mosquito-borne virus may be expanding its range.

You Gotta Watch This Commercial!!!

Hey, guys. Yeah, I know I haven't posted anything lately but I've been just bungled with preoccupation (i.e. school, life, and a new tale I'm spinning that's an off branch for a series I'm working on). I have some killer stuff in mind though, and, since it is the Halloween season, keep your eyes popp'in back here this month for new articles. I promise you'll like what I got in store. Till then, if you haven't seen this, hit play. I promise you'll laugh your ass off. It's damn near Super Bowl worthy.

Oh, yeah. P.S.

Since I figure I'm probably not going to get to this in a formal post, I just figure I'd mention it that I DID manage to get that game Prototype and I DID went to go see Pandorum. Prototype, well, basically it sucked. The graphics were shitty compared to the million other kick-ass games just like it and the plot was just--meh. I do play it though for the gore and carnage when I'm feeling angsty and it does the trick beautifully but tragically that's all the game seems to be about. As for Pandorum? GO-FUCKING-SEE-THAT-MOVIE!!! It was amazing and on the edge of your seat every second of the film! But that's about it peeps, though I would like to talk more about Pandorum sometime but chances are, it'll be old news by then (if it ain't already), so...peace!

Wolfman Del Toro and the Next Rodriguez Flick