A gang known as the Plasma Gang was reported to be in circulation in Alexandra, South Africa, in August 2013. They were breaking into people's houses to steal their plasma TVs; if the victims awoke or came in during the robbery and saw what was happening, the gang would murder them. They wanted the plasma TVs not for the sake of the TV itself, but so that they could remove a powder from inside it to use in the drug cocktail nyaope.
(This story was reported on the TV, radio and in local newspapers throughout August and September, with claims, counter-claims and debunkings.)