The US warns tourists who use dating apps in Colombia about the risks of being kidnapped or murdered

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The United States Embassy in Colombia has issued an alert aimed at US citizens who use online dating platforms in Medellín, after at least eight deaths of North Americans were recorded in the city during the months of November and December. This comes amid reports of an increase in cases of male tourists being detained and assaulted, often after meeting women through dating applications.

The warning comes after the body of Tou Ger Xiong, a Minnesota comedian, was found with multiple stab wounds and bruises in a wooded area of the city after being thrown off a cliff. The deaths of Americans, considered suspicious by the Embassy, often occurred after the victims were drugged, and the attacks increased despite the efforts of Medellin authorities to reconfigure the city’s image from being the murder capital in the ’90s, under Pablo Escobar, to a tourist destination with a booming nightlife.

Homicides in the city have decreased by 97% in three decades, however, the recent wave of crimes against foreigners has tainted these efforts. Crime rates directed at the foreign population have experienced a robust increase coinciding with the recovery of tourism in the city, which has attempted to attract remote workers and those in the technology sector.

Authorities’ efforts to transform Medellín into a haven for remote tech workers have led to an increase in the cost of living and gentrification, especially in the El Poblado district, where Xiong lived and where many of the crimes have occurred. The increase in rent and the numbers of apartments listed on applications such as Airbnb are indicators of this phenomenon.

Regarding the circumstances surrounding the recent deaths, there have been robberies and murders of foreign tourists carried out on public roads and inside hotels or rented apartments, after encountering local women. Additionally, some deaths are believed to have resulted from the combination of excessive alcohol consumption and drugs that criminal gangs add to drinks to incapacitate their victims before assaulting them.

In relation to the tactics used by criminals, the Attorney General’s Office has detained nearly 50 people during 2023 for allegedly collaborating with criminal groups that target foreigners in Medellín. For his part, William Vivas, a high-ranking official in Medellín, warned about visitors who come to the city attracted by sex tourism and are especially susceptible to being scammed by gangs that use drugs such as scopolamine to commit their crimes.

City authorities revealed that thefts against foreigners tripled during the third quarter of 2023 compared to the previous year. However, the overall homicide rate has fallen sharply, recording a homicide rate of around 13 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023, in contrast to a rate of 395 per 100,000 in 1991.

Xiong’s family expressed that he never talked about using dating apps, but had mentioned to his brothers about a girl he had met in Medellin in July. However, hours after his Dec. 10 appointment, prosecutors say he called family and friends to send him $2,000, claiming he had been kidnapped and that they were asking for a ransom. The next day, police found Xiong’s lifeless body with multiple stab wounds and bruises after being thrown off a cliff.

In conclusion, two men, a woman, and a 17-year-old teenager were arrested for the kidnapping and murder of Xiong. As the city seeks to maintain its allure as a tourist destination, authorities are working to address the safety concerns for foreigners, particularly those using dating apps to meet locals.