Dozens of tourists lost their lives this year mainly in Poblado

@cccmedia my husband and i are visiting Poblado in October for a month- should we be concerned?

Brenda, you should follow these three rules to

avoid any such incident...

Don't stay out too late.

Don't accept beverages from strangers.  Don't

let your 'safe' drink go unattended even for

a minute.

Don't engage with strangers who accost you

on the street.  Don't accept one-page flyers

on the street.  Their edges could be tainted

with a toxic substance.  Just say, No, gracias.

Bonus tip .. don't invite new acquaintances

into your hotel guest room or lodging.

A high percentage of the fatal incidents

involve single men who made the mistake of

inviting one or two women into their guest rooms

where the perpetrators got them to drink

something that contains scopolomine.

A robbery ensues, and if the amount the

men imbibed was too strong, they lost

consciousness and never woke up.

Advice to Expat members .. don''t get scoped.

cccmedia, designated Colombia expert

for Expat.com

I stopped visiting the Paisa capital

a couple of years ago.  The nightlife

attracts smooth operators with

plenty of experience in separating

men from their money and other assets.

My preferred city in Colombia these days

is Bucaramanga, which

IMO has not been corrupted

so far as I can tell.

cccmedia

@crespobrenda In addition to what CCCMedia said, also look up this phrase: "no dar papaya" (don't be an easy target). Also, from what you said ("husband and I") I get the impression that you two are a normal, legit, mature couple. Which means you won't be bar-hopping in the middle of the night, inviting prepagos into your private space, or mixing up with drug-seekers.

All these factors considered, your chances of being victims drops drastically. However, that doesn't mean you guys are 100% safe. So, "no dar papaya", and you guys should be fine.

As foreigners in Colombia, if you don't go looking for trouble, generally speaking, trouble won't come looking for you.

@crespobrenda In addition to what CCCMedia said, also look up this phrase: "no dar papaya" (don't be an easy target). Also, from what you said ("husband and I") I get the impression that you two are a normal, legit, mature couple. Which means you won't be bar-hopping in the middle of the night, inviting prepagos into your private space, or mixing up with drug-seekers.

All these factors considered, your chances of being victims drops drastically. However, that doesn't mean you guys are 100% safe. So, "no dar papaya", and you guys should be fine.

As foreigners in Colombia, if you don't go looking for trouble, generally speaking, trouble won't come looking for you.

This sort of problem in big cities and especially Medellin was one or my reasons to choose a smaller city for my Colombian retirement. And certainly it is a concern.  At the same time,  the problem can easily be overstated.  The article cited below provides a few details on the causes of death of 31 foreign tourists in Medellin so far this year.  Including suicides, accidental deaths and natural causes.  Two confirmed homicides, but very likely several others that have yet to be fully investigated.   And in addition to dangerous bar-hopping, one has to wonder whether all of those "tourists" were truly engaged only in typical tourist activities. See:  [link under review]

You can easily find a number of articles on deaths of foreigners in Medellín.  Here are two, the first in Spanish, the second in English:

https://www.elcolombiano.com/medellin/l … EH24890206

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-68022288

@OsageArcher Thanks for posting the links. That 2nd story was heartwarming, cuz the guy really believes he forgives his attackers. He is far more forgiving than me, TBH