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The Underworld Podcast

The Zombie Drug Robbery Gangs of Medellin Preying on Dating Apps w/ Toby Muse

The Underworld Podcast

The Underworld Podcast

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.6871 Ratings

🗓️ 2 April 2024

⏱️ 55 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Medellin was once the world's most violent city, torn about by Pablo Escobar's murderous cartel warfare and later, Don Berna's meteoric rise to control the city's drug trade. Over the last decade, though, the city has grown quite safe, becoming a tourism hotspot and hub for digital nomads attracted to it's people, parties and culture. But a recent spate of robbery turned murders, mostly targeting foreigners through dating apps like Tinder and Bumble, is once again throwing the city's rep into question and garnering international headlines. But who, exactly, is behind it? We're joined by Underworld favorite and Colombian underworld specialist, reporter and producer Toby Muse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Medean Columbia last November.

0:04.0

The body of 27 year old American tourists, Paul Wynne, is found on a street corner.

0:10.0

Authorities are quick to ID him.

0:12.0

They've already had a description and have been alerted to his disappearance the night before.

0:17.0

At one time, a murdered body on the streets of Medean wouldn't have caused that much of a stir.

0:22.0

See, it's a city that much of a stir.

0:23.0

See, it's a city that for a long time has had a fearsome reputation.

0:26.8

Pablo Escobar's home base that became the murder capital of the world,

0:30.4

as the original co-cartels fought for control.

0:33.0

Once Escobar was taken down and out, things calmed a bit with some brief flare-ups,

0:38.0

like when infamous cartel leader Don Berna was extradited to the U.S. in the late 2000 2000s and a war for control popped off yet again.

0:47.0

These days though, the city is a far cry from drug warfare despite the name conjuring up

0:52.2

images of powders and guns. In fact, the city's seen

0:56.2

amazing growth in the last decade, becoming a tourism hotspot for Westerners of all types,

1:01.6

the kind of place families go to take in the beautiful

1:03.9

culture, people, and food. Since COVID, it's also become a hot spot for the

1:08.9

digital nomad scene, you know, the young professionals and industries like tech who don't have to show up to an office and can work from anywhere in the world

1:17.8

A recent spate of news though has threatened to once again jeopardize the city's reputation and it has to do with Paul's death.

1:25.4

See this doesn't have to do with cartel wars. It has to do with tinder and a popular honey trap

1:31.1

that's been going wrong in Colombia for a few years now, turning it

1:35.4

into the date app robbery capital of the world. It's basically foreigners, usually

1:40.6

Western matching with attractive women on dating apps

...

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