Tourists traveling to Colombia are being warned against using dating apps in the country, following a spate of mysterious deaths in a short period of time.
The US embassy sounds the alarm – and warns of the gangs’ new approach, which involves, among other things, a special drug.
The second largest city in Colombia, Medellín, was considered the world’s most dangerous city 30 years ago. But in recent decades, tourists have been attracted there by a rich bar life and cozy neighborhoods. However, the danger does not seem to be over.
On Wednesday, the US State Department issued a warning, after eight US citizens died in the city in November and December alone. The people are suspected of having been drugged and murdered after going on dates through apps such as Tinder, reports The Guardian.
“The majority of US citizens in Colombia have been drugged, robbed and even killed by their Colombian dates,” the US Embassy said in a statement.
Poison from potato plant
According to the embassy, the persons have arranged to meet their date in bars, hotels and restaurants. After that, they are said to have been drugged and robbed. The perpetrators are said to have followed them home or to ATMs and forced their victims to withdraw money.
It is already known that Colombian gangs sometimes use the drug scopolamine, a poison that occurs in many potato plants and which can easily be mixed in, for example, food, to carry out robberies. The victim may be unconscious for more than a day without remembering what happened afterwards.
27-year-old was found in garbage
In 2023, the number of reports of cases involving the drug, known as “burundanga”, increased. In 2022, for example, American Paul Nguyen, 27, died after going on a Tinder date. His body was found in a pile of garbage and he had no phone or wallet on him.
According to crime experts The Guardian spoke to, apps such as Tinder and Bumble are part of the gangs’ new approach.
– Before, local gangs usually waited for a drunken victim outside a bar but now they are more proactive, they choose their victims online and ask them out on dates, Colombian security expert Andrés Nieto told The Guardian.