Petty Crime a Knockout in Budapest's Favorite Underground Bar

According to several word-of-mouth reports, a disturbing wave of petty theft and possible "date rape" drugging is spreading in the area around Kálvin tér "subway" bar/café Cha-cha-cha. Cha-cha-cha first became popular for its unusual location, joyful seediness, eclectic music and mixed crowd, but now, it seems, pickpockets have also moved in to prey on the patrons. But it is not just your belongings you should look after - keep a close eye on your drink, too.

V., a Kálvin tér regular, has heard of a half a dozen reports of stolen purses and wallets in Cha-cha-cha, as well as in Monyo, upstairs on Kálvin tér itself, and other cafés further down Ráday utca. A friend of V.'s has even had her purse lifted on two separate occasions. From her own bitter experience, she also suspects that pickpockets are using more sophisticated means, namely so-called "date rape" drugs, to relieve punters of their belongings. "Everyone goes out and has a few drinks too many from time to time, and some people even pass out, but most of us know our limits and stop before it is too late," V. explains. "But one morning after the night before in Cha-cha-cha, I woke up at home at eleven in the morning without any memories whatsoever after a certain point. I had no idea how I got home, all I knew was that I didn't feel like I'd had a heavy night out and that my purse and mobile phone were missing." And V. said some of her friends' tales of misfortune are eerily similar.

A Budapest filmmaker and night owl was also recently lost his phone and wallet in the same location under equally mysterious circumstances. "I was showing a couple of visiting friends around town and when they left, I decided to stick around at Cha-cha-cha for a nightcap. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the middle of the bar, as if from a deep sleep" he recalls. "The strange thing was, I didn't have a headache or feel drunk or hungover at all, just a little disoriented." He suspects that he was incapacitated by a "date-rape drug", such as rohypnol, slipped into his drink while he wasn't looking.

Both victims can count themselves lucky they weren't taken advantage of in other ways. The strong sedative gained notoriety in Britain as an aid to knocking women out, making them incapable of refusing sexual intercourse and inducing memory loss.

A Cha-cha-cha staff member who preferred to remain nameless admitted that this is the first she has heard of alleged doping. "I can believe anything, and we do get plenty of people coming back the next day in search of lost belongings. But this happens everywhere. It does get busy and people do get drunk, so my advice would be to leave valuables at home and to keep a closer eye on your stuff, as well as your drinks." She was grateful for the heads up and promised to alert other Cha-cha-cha staff to the potential threat.

UPDATE: If you were worried about getting knocked out at Cha-Cha-Cha underground, don't - it's been knocked out itself.