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"Drugged, robbed and then killed", how some online girls are ensnaring Americans in Medellin, Colombia

2024-01-21 16:03:55Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
"Drugged, robbed and then killed", how some online girls are ensnaring
Medellin

A series of mysterious deaths of American men in Colombia have been linked to dating apps. Relatives of those killed are now seeking answers.

"He talked about people with big souls ... he was just enjoying life. He was even taking Spanish lessons", Eh Xiong, the brother of Tou Ger, a 50-year-old missing American, tells the BBC . He was a Hmong-American community activist from Minnesota.

Before his trip to Medellin, Colombia, he had spoken to a woman online. It never occurred to him that it would end tragically this way. A few weeks after his visit, in mid-December, he called his brother and asked for $2,000, but did not say what he wanted it for or that something was wrong.

The brother told him that he would transfer the money to him. He never heard from his brother. The next day, the police found Tou Geri's body in a remote, wooded area of ​​the city. A friend in Medellin explained to his brother that he had been kidnapped and held at gunpoint for a $2,000 ransom.

"I didn't want to believe it. I didn't know if it was really happening. My heart broke," said Eh. He tried to contact the US embassy, ​​which confirmed it was his brother's body. Colombian police this week arrested a woman and two men in connection with his death, charging them with kidnapping and murder. It is not clear whether he first met the woman through a dating app or through friends.

His death is 1 in 8 in Medellin that prompted a warning from the US embassy about the dangers of using dating apps. All 8 victims were Americans who died under suspicious circumstances in November and December. The US State Department says it was aware of a gang in the city that used dating apps to isolate victims before kidnapping and killing them. It is unclear whether it is just one gang behind the deaths.

In the first 10 months of 2023, the tourism observatory in Medellin had already recorded 32 violent murders of foreigners in the city, including at least 12 Americans and 3 from the United Kingdom, a 40% increase from the previous year.

Jeff Hewett was found "lying dead in a pool of blood" in his hotel room in Medellin. His friends described him as "a quiet, kind soul" and the apparent victim of a "robbery gone wrong". Johny Jerome was killed on his 45th birthday. Phillip Mullins was drugged and died of an overdose, according to local media reports.

The US Embassy says some of these cases started with a dating app used to lure victims and that there is a worrying increase in people ending up "drugged, robbed and even killed by their Colombian dates".

Carlos Calle, the former director of the city's tourism observatory, said it is common for criminals to drug tourists with scopolamine, an odorless substance known as "Devil's Breath." The US embassy also warned about this drug that puts victims to sleep for up to 24 hours.

A spokesman for the tourism observatory confirmed that most of the victims last year were men, but added that many cases were still under investigation. Prostitution is legal in Colombia and widespread in tourism hotspots such as the cities of Medellin and Cartagena. There is nothing to suggest that the murdered men were dating prostitutes.


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