Swindling shamans conned a Colombian town into believing bottled water was a miracle medicine, reported local newspaper Diaro del Sur Thursday.
Four shifty mystics, said to hail from Ecuador, set up a tent in the southwestern town of Mocoa and performed “healing rituals.”
Their potion, said to be able to cure any ailment, was aptly named “Miracle.”
However something — perhaps the unfortunate lack of any actual miracles? — got the wise people of Mocoa suspicious.
On careful inspection it transpired they had indeed been duped — the carefully-crafted elixir turned out to be tap water. And rather pricey water at that, for 10 million pesos a bottle.
Authorities were quick to react, immediately taking down the hucksters tent, which sat a mere 200 meters from the police station.