Vlogger Cătălin Stănciulescu returned to Medellin, the Colombian city where Pablo Escobar had his headquarters, to learn about the mysterious drug – scopolamine or devil's breath – used to rob tourists looking for sexual services.
Colombia has become a destination for sex and drug tourism. PHOTO: Video capture
Authorities in Medellín will meet representatives of embassies and popular dating apps this week after five foreigners were found dead in Colombia's second city in the past seven days, according to an article published yesterday , by The Guardian.
Police say none of the deaths were violent, although one of the cases appears to involve a man who was found dead in his hotel room hours after checking in with two women.
“There were some deaths from natural causes… from heart problems, some from suicide and some from overdoses,” said the mayor of Medellín, Federico Gutiérrez. “And in other cases, we see tourists who use dating apps get scammed – and then end up being robbed and killed. This issue is very sensitive and I have already spoken to the US ambassador“, the mayor also claimed.
Over the past 30 years, Medellín has transformed from one of the most dangerous cities in the world to a global destination for tourists and commuters. In 2022, more than 1.4 million people visited the city, popular for its beautiful weather and the hospitality of the locals, up from 200,000 in 2015.
Tinder mobsters use 'devil's breath'
Tinder has become a popular tool for criminal gangs to target the growing number of tourists looking for sex, crime experts say. Local gangs hire attractive young women to lure strangers on dates through mobile dating apps. They are then drugged and robbed, The Guardian reports.
Many of the cases go unreported because victims are too embarrassed to notify the police, but a spate of deaths in recent months has brought the issue into the spotlight.
These deaths often result from drug overdoses such as scopolamine or devil's breath, an intoxicating plant grown in the Andes that can be used to incapacitate people before stealing their possessions or “wiping out” their bank account, the paper said. British.
Embassies including the US and UK issued warnings to foreign visitors last month after the number of deaths linked to online dating rose.
The US Embassy in Bogotá recorded eight “suspicious” deaths of US citizens in November and December 2023, while the number of thefts committed against foreign visitors increased by 200% in the third quarter of 2023 compared to the previous year.
“Several US citizens in Colombia have been drugged, robbed and even killed after their Colombian encounters“, the embassy said.
Tinder also warned users in Colombia in late January to proceed with caution, given the spate of deaths.
“Please remember to check your matches, meet in public places and share plans with people you trust. If something doesn't seem right, you can end the meeting”users were advised.
The huge mistake many tourists make: “treat Colombia like it's Thailand”
Cătălin Stănciulescu, the creator of the YouTube channel Backpackyourlife, the famous travel vlogger, visited Medellin the other day to find out the truth about scopolamine.
He started his video by talking about a Chinese comedian who had been dating his Colombian girlfriend for about 6 months. “The only problem is that he was 50 and she was 19. They met on Tinder, went out to a bunch of expensive places, obviously he handled and paid for everything. At some point on December 8, 2023, absolutely nothing was heard of him, who, by the way, was a well-known Asian comedian. On December 11, his body was found in a ravine somewhere on the outskirts of the city.”
The police found out that his girlfriend drugged him with scopolamine, took all the money he had and in the end, together with her boyfriend, they decided that it was better to kill him for fear of going to the authorities.
“So they tied his hands, tortured him and then took him to that ravine where he was found and crushed his head with a stone. This story is very interesting and very painful, but the most painful thing is that it is not the only story of this kind that we will talk about in this video. Events like this happen all the time in the Medellin of 2024″claimed Cătălin.
Sex tourism is happening in Medellin now more than ever, says the vlogger.
“We're also going to talk about a drug that we didn't know about until a few years ago, namely scopolamine. It's a drug that many of the women here in Medellin use so that they drug men to steal their things or kill them”he explained.
Cătălin remembers that compared to 2017, when he visited Medellin, certain areas were very dangerous. “Now things have changed enormously. After the pandemic, Colombia opened up a lot and an extraordinary number of Americans started coming. The problem is that these Americans and generally people from the Western world, let's say not just geographically but also culturally, come here and treat Colombia like it's Thailand. They are treating Medellin like Bangkok, and that is a very big mistake, and it has cost many people dearly. Many people die, many people are robbed strictly because they are not able to take care of themselves, they do not know exactly how to behave in this society”.
Many tourists die of overdose: “1 dollar a gram of pure cocaine”
An Uber driver explained to him that many Westerners who come to Colombia die of overdose: “Sex tourism has developed a lot. Foreigners come and want sex and drugs. The women are already used to the gringo coming to lift them out of poverty, and the neighborhood gangsters saw an opportunity to make money. They taught the girls to charm tourists, make them fall in love, take them to a villa outside the city and promise them quality sex. There, the girls' friends are waiting for them, who kidnap them, take their money and empty their cards”.
He claimed that there is no intention to kill the tourists, but the girls do not know how to dose scopolamine and it is very easy to overdose.
“Or tourists try the drugs here, which are very pure and very dangerous. They think it's the same as in the US, where the purity of cocaine is 60-70%. Here, the cocaine has a purity of 90% or even more. Here drugs are very accessible, you can find them anywhere and they come directly from the source. Here you can find a gram of cocaine for 1 dollar, in the USA it costs 150 dollars per graml”, he explained.
“Stand like a zombie and give him the PIN from the card”
Cătălin met the guide he had in 2017, when he was in Medellin. “Carlos was active in Medellin during the time when Pablo Escobar was on the rise, moreover, he was also part of the group of very talented and very serious police officers who aimed to hunt down Pablo Escobar and the assassins who worked for him,” explained the vlogger.
Carlos explained to him what scopolamine is: “It's a powder that they throw in your face or put in your drink and you're completely stuck, you're high, you're disoriented.”
He explained to her that Medellin had changed a lot: “It's overflowing tourism in 2024 based on sex and drugs. When tourists search on apps like Tinder, which is the most dangerous, they come into contact with girls they don't know. Then the tourists invite the girls to their hotel. The girls come in with a fake ID”.
They think they have made a great deal because for $20 they will have sex with a beautiful Colombian girl.
“At the end of the day, that $20 turns into a situation where you become stuck, unable to react, and you can find yourself killed by an overdose. Girls don't know how many grams to use, so you can have cardio-respiratory arrest. Or just stand there like a zombie while your girl friends steal all your money. It's so strong, that if they ask you for the PIN code from the card, you give it without protesting”Carlos explained.
The former policeman claimed that 23 tourists who sought sexual services died in the Medellin metropolitan area last year.
