US Tourists Targeted in City’s Dating Trap – Victims Drugged, Robbed, and Fatally Attacked
Several mysterious deaths involving American men in Colombia have been linked to dating apps.
Tou Ger, 50, was a Hmong-American community activist and comedian from Minnesota. Prior to his most recent trip to Medellin, he had been communicating with a woman online.
A few weeks into his two-month visit, in mid-December, he called his brother and asked for $2,000 without explaining what it was for or what was wrong. Eh said he would transfer the money. He never heard from his brother again.
The following day, police discovered Tou Ger’s body in a remote, wooded area of the city. A friend in Medellin informed Eh that his brother had been kidnapped and held at gunpoint for the $2,000 ransom.
“I did not want to believe it. I didn’t know if it was really happening,” Eh said. “My heart just sank.”
Eh rushed to contact the US embassy, which confirmed that it was his brother’s body. Colombian authorities arrested a woman and two men this week in connection with his death, charging them with kidnapping and murder.
It is unclear whether he met the woman on a dating app or through friends. However, his death is one of eight in Medellin that has prompted a warning from the US embassy about the dangers of using dating apps. All eight victims were Americans who died in suspicious circumstances during November and December.
The US State Department said it was aware of a gang in the city that had previously used dating apps to isolate victims before kidnapping and killing them. However, it is unclear whether a gang was responsible for the deaths in the United States.
In the first ten months of 2023, Medellin’s tourism observatory recorded 32 violent killings of foreigners in the city, including at least 12 Americans and three from the United Kingdom, a 40% increase over the previous year.
Jeff Hewett was discovered “lying dead in a pool of blood” in his Medellin hotel room, his friends wrote online, describing him as “an easy-going, wry, kind spirit” and the apparent victim of a “robbery gone wrong.”
Johny Jerome was killed on his 45th birthday. Phillip Mullins was drugged and died from an overdose, according to local media reports.
Dating App Scams Lead to Drugging, Robbery, and Violence in Colombia’s Tourist Hubs
According to the embassy, several of these cases began with a dating app used to lure victims, as part of a concerning increase in people who are “drugged, robbed, and even killed by their Colombian dates.” Neither Tinder nor Bumble, which are popular in the city, would comment.
According to Carlos Calle, the former director of the city’s tourism observatory, criminals frequently drug tourists with scopolamine, an odorless substance known as “Devil’s Breath.” The US embassy also warned about the drug, which can sedate victims for up to 24 hours.
A spokesperson for the tourism observatory confirmed that the “majority” of victims last year were men but noted that many cases are still being investigated.
Prostitution is legal in Colombia and widespread in tourist destinations such as Medellin and Cartagena. But there is no evidence that the men killed were using prostitutes.
Medellin’s city police declined to comment on the recent increase in violent deaths, referring BBC News to the mayor’s office.
“We want more and more foreigners to come to the city,” said Mayor Federico Gutierrez, adding that tourists who come solely for sex and drugs were not welcome. He stated that he has directed the police to crack down on a related underlying issue, namely minor sex trafficking.
According to mayor’s office statistics, over 1.4 million foreign tourists visited the city in 2022, setting a new record over previous years, with more than a quarter of them being Americans. The numbers are expected to rise even further in 2023, thanks in part to Medellin’s status as a popular destination for remote workers.
Last week, Eh Xiong visited Medellin for the first time, carrying out a Hmong tradition of summoning his brother’s spirits back home.
“We’re not mad at the people of Colombia,” he said. “I truly believe that he would have forgiven the people who did that to him.”
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