MEDELLIN, Colombia (AP) — The lush valleys surrounding Medellin were once the epicenter of a brutal war involving the Colombian government, drug cartels and other armed groups.
But a sharp drop in violence in the nation’s second-largest city has drawn tourists to its vibrant colors, bustling cafes and lively nightlife, attracting about 1.4 million visitors last year, many of them Americans.
Now the tourism boom is bringing a set of dark new challenges for authorities, including an increase in sex trafficking and the murders of tourists and Colombian women who met on dating apps.
“This area is out of control,” Medellin Mayor Federico Gutierrez said recently during a tour of a park known for prostitution.
Sex and drug tourism has long been a problem in Medellin, but the danger came to a head late last year, when eight American men were murdered in November and December, many of them after meeting local women who are often used as pawns by criminal gangs that target foreigners.
Following the murder, the US Embassy in Bogota warned in January that some tourists were being drugged and then robbed or killed, and US authorities warned men to refrain from using dating apps, which offer a way to find sex workers, who are not illegal in Colombia.
Medellin’s chief prosecutor, Iri Milena Amado Sánchez, said the majority of recent murders follow a similar plot: A tourist contacts a local woman through social media or a dating app. Upon meeting, the man is handed a drink laced with a substance, such as scopolamine, which renders a person unconscious and blocks memory. The victim loses their belongings and, in some cases, their life.
Police ask a woman for proof of age at a checkpoint at the entrance to Lleras Park during an operation to enforce a nighttime curfew on minors in Medellin, Colombia, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. (Photo by The Associated Press/Fernando Vergara)
The most well-known murders are: Police say Tou Ger Siong, an activist and comedian from Minnesota, was on a date with a woman from Medellin.
After meeting the woman, Xiong was abducted on December 10th, where he was tortured, beaten and robbed. Despite his family paying a ransom to free him, he was taken to a nearby wooded area and thrown off a 250ft cliff. His body was found the following day.
Colombian authorities have not suggested that Xiong was involved in prostitution, but they have said he went out on several occasions with the woman and two men charged in the case.
Friends and relatives said Xiong was an outgoing person who loved to travel, especially to Colombia where he had friends.
A hotel employee holds a sign that reads in Spanish, “No to pornographic exploitation and sex tourism,” in Medellin, Colombia, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024. (Photo by The Associated Press/Fernando Vergara)
“It was like a second home. He loved it there,” his brother, Ae Siong, said. The Minneapolis Star Tribune added that his brother was aware of the U.S. government’s warnings but only assumed “the best in people.”
This year alone, authorities are investigating the deaths of five more tourists, including a Dutch tourist found dead in a hotel, three Americans and a Lithuanian man who may have committed suicide.
Foreigners are also behind some of the violence.
Earlier this month, the body of 20-year-old Colombian Laura Lopera was found stuffed inside a suitcase, and authorities say her middle-aged Canadian ex-boyfriend, whom she met on a dating app, is likely behind her death.
Medellin Mayor Gutierrez said the boyfriend had fled the country and was now being pursued by Interpol. The Associated Press contacted the suspect through social media but did not receive a response.
A couple strolls in front of Coyote nightclub at Lleras Park in Medellin, Colombia, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. (Photo by The Associated Press/Fernando Vergara)
The Canadian Embassy in Bogota said it was following the case but could not release further details due to privacy concerns.
“It’s so sad and painful that yet another murder of a woman has occurred.” Gutierrez wrote to X.(Old Twitter). “Sending solidarity to her family.”
The increase in tourism has coincided with an increase in sexual exploitation and human trafficking in a place where rates of violence against women are already extremely high: In 2023, the city recorded 1,259 cases of suspected sexual exploitation of minors, up nearly 60% from the previous year, according to data collected by the city.
Much of the city’s sex industry is also fuelled by poverty and the migration crisis from neighbouring Venezuela, with vulnerable women often turning to prostitution to make ends meet, like one young sex worker who fled Venezuela’s economic crisis five years ago.
Every weekend, she dresses up and strolls through Parque de Leras, a small park surrounded by clubs frequented by foreign tourists and the epicenter of Medellín’s sex industry.
Visitors walk through Botero Plaza in Medellin, Colombia, Thursday, February 1, 2024. (Photo by The Associated Press/Fernando Vergara)
“Americans will pay $100 or even $200 for sex, but Colombians would never pay that much,” she said, speaking on the condition of anonymity for safety reasons.
Far from being highly paid, she had to scrape together at least $50 to pay rent for the room she shared with her 8-year-old daughter and her mother.
“Some people think we are going to harm them,” she said of crimes against tourists, “but we’re not all criminals.”
On a recent evening, dozens of police officers and local government officials accompanied Mayor Gutierrez on patrol around the park.
Police asked women to show identification at police checkpoints as they entered the park. Most were allowed through, but several teenagers were stopped and taken into vans. Once the police left, the area was once again filled with sex workers of all ages.
Tourists bungee jump in the Comuna 13 district of Medellin, Colombia, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. (Photo by The Associated Press/Fernando Vergara)
Despite the rise in prostitution tourism, many visitors to Medellín are drawn by the vibrant culture, the stunning natural beauty of the valley, and the city’s complex history.
Every day, hundreds of people take part in walking tours through the hills known as Comuna 13, observing the changes taking place in the area.
The area was once a battleground for fighting between drug cartels, leftist guerrillas, the army and pro-government paramilitary groups. The dead were buried in mass graves.
Though the area remains plagued by gang problems, tourists stroll through brightly colored streets connected by electric staircases, take photos of intricate murals by local artists and buy handicrafts in tiny shops.
During the tour, Ola Ayedun, 38, from New York, stopped to take a photo with two friends. He said he wasn’t worried about safety or warnings to avoid dating apps because he wasn’t in Colombia to find a partner.
“Colombia has more to offer than just women,” Ayedun says.
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Associated Press writer Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minnesota, contributed to this report.
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