A 25-year-old american citizen was discovered dead last thursday in one of the luxury hotels that line medelln’s chic el poblado neighborhood.
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Matthew watson croulet had hopped into a taxi early in the morning, disoriented, remembering nothing but the name of his hotel. Croulet seemed to be drugged and sick, according to police reports, hotel staff.

His body was discovered in his room at 9:30 a.m. so far this year, the 29th tourist to die under violent or mysterious circumstances in medelln, an average of more than one a week. If the pace continues, the city will end the year with 61 tourist deaths.

Medelln was once known as one of the world’s most dangerous cities, home to drug kingpin pablo escobar.

Medelln has since developed into one of the world’s most popular summer destinations, despite years of hard work.
It was voted the “coolest” city in the country by time out magazine last year.

However, a rise in tourism has resulted in a rise in criminal activities aimed at those visitors.Another american citizen was discovered dead in a hotel in laureles, a tourist district.

Jaime eduardo cisneros, 54, was discovered lying on a bed half-naked, rolled up in a sheet, with no signs of abuse.
Authorities claim he shared his room with a woman early in the morning, but only she left.
The recent deaths have heightened international awareness of the dangers associated with traveling to medelln.

In january, the us embassy in bogotá, colombia’s capital, issued a warning about the dangers that can be posed by criminals who use dating apps to lure, drug, and rob tourists, with notable cases of americans being robbed after “matching” with apps like tinder, bumble, and grindr.

Many of the deaths are related to scopolamine, a medication used to treat motion sickness nausea and vomiting.

Scopolamine, also known as “the devil’s breath,” has long been a favorite of criminals, being used to incapacitate their victims in robberies and sex crimes.

Former director of the regional attorney general’s office yiri milena amado said that “deadly cocktails” of drugs and alcohol are often found in the deceased tourists’ systems.

The drug-aided robberies are jeopardizing colombia’s attempts to be more tourist-friendly and free from drugs and violence.

Colombia is rated as a “level 3: reconsider” destination by the us state department, citing crime, terrorism, civil unrest, and kidnapping, one notch below the more dangerous “level 4: do not travel.

Colombian authorities claim that visiting medellin is safe.
Tourists looking for drugs, narco-culture, and sex are attributed to the violence, according to them.

In an interview with spanish newspaper el pas, carlos calle, the head of the medelln district attorney’s office’s tourism observatory, said, “the situations in which these foreign visitors are negatively impacted are almost always related to drugs or prostitution.

Several tourists have been caught up in sex trafficking schemes involving minors.
Timothy alan livingston, a 36-year-old us citizen who was discovered by police in a hotel in el poblado with two girls, aged 12 and 13, was the subject of a notorious case.

Minors under the age of 16 are forbidden from having sexual relations unless the person seeking sex is at least three years older than the child.

Livingston was released shortly after his detention and returned to florida, despite his age.He was arrested in april by a colombian judge, but he is still on the loose in the united states.

To combat child exploitation, medelln mayor federico gutiérrez issued a six-month prostitution ban in tourist areas.

“i want medelln to be a model in the fight against child sexual abuse,” he said.
The city has been plastered with posters in the last three months to discourage sexual assault on minors.They say, “don’t even try, it’s a crime.

Medelln has been actively working to reclaim its notorious narco history for almost 20 years.
Mayor gutiérrez ordered the demolition of the famous monaco building, where escobar lived and worked in 2019.

The casa museo escobar, which was owned by escobar’s brother roberto “el osito” escobar, has also been closed.
Medelln has focused on urban renewal, social programs, and advancing cultural and technological advancements since escobar’s death in 1993, gaining international recognition for its transformation.

Many of the streets that once belonged to escobar’s medelln cartel are now lined with high-end restaurants and glassy hotels.

Despite this, the city is also home to many violent cartels that are drawn to the increasing number of visitors drawn to the city and its remaining illicit activities.