US comic Tou Ger Xiong seen having a blast at Karol G live performance days earlier than he was murdered in Colombia

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By Ronny Reyes

American comic and activist Tou Ger Xiong filmed himself fortunately partying at a big live performance in Colombia simply days earlier than his physique was found after happening a date with a girl he met on-line — one thing the US Embassy has warned vacationers in opposition to.

Xiong, 50, an Asian American dwelling in Minnesota, was all smiles on Dec. 3 when he recorded himself among the many boisterous crowd attending a much-anticipated Karol G live performance in Medellín.

The comic yelled and cheered as he was surrounded by fireworks, smoke and lasers, with the gang roaring because the Latin Grammy winner may very well be heard singing on stage and wishing for her followers “to be joyful.”

Every week later, Xiong had plans to go on a date with a thriller girl he met on social media, however he was as a substitute attacked and kidnapped by a bunch of males, along with his physique present in a ravine, in response to native newspaper El Colombiano.

The comic seems to be the most recent sufferer of a honeytrap scheme prevalent in main Colombian cities, together with Medellín, the place rich vacationers are lured into harmful conditions by ladies they’ve met on-line, solely to be assaulted by gangs.

“One of the crucial fashionable strategies to focus on unsuspecting people is thru on-line relationship functions,” the US Embassy in Bogota mentioned in a warning over the summer season.

“Foreigners are routinely focused by means of on-line relationship functions or in bars and nightclubs.”

In response to embassy officers, the victims of such scams are sometimes drugged with the damaging sedative often known as scopolamine — an odorless, tasteless, memory-blocking substance that places the sufferer in a trance-like state.

The drug could be hidden in meals and drinks and might render the sufferer unconscious for as much as 24 hours.

It’s unclear if the substance was present in Xiong’s physique, as his grieving brother Eh is at present working with US Embassy officers to convey his sibling again to Minnesota. He added that one suspect has already been taken into custody.

Eh and a good friend had final heard from Xiong on the day of the kidnapping, at round 7 p.m. native time, the place males demanded they hand over $2,000 in money for the comic’s launch.

Xiong additionally advised his good friend, who filed the police report, that he was being “held at gunpoint,” in response to KSTP.

Hours earlier, police had been on the condominium Xiong had been staying at as a result of a girl was taking objects from the residence and ran off earlier than police might arrest her, officers advised the outlet.

Xiong’s physique was finally discovered mendacity within the La Corcovado ravine with greater than a dozen stab wounds and a number of bruises attributable to an obvious fall from over 60 ft, in response to the El Colombiano.

Native regulation enforcement confirmed the suspects murdered Xiong earlier than a cost was made, and an investigation was opened to find out if Xiong’s demise was brought about due to an tried escape.

Xiong’s case is eerily much like the demise of one other Asian American vacationer who traveled to Colombia to attend the live performance of one other one in every of Latin America’s greatest stars.

Final 12 months, California-based logistics guide Paul Nguyen, 27, traveled to Medellín for a trip and to catch a Dangerous Bunny live performance when he went on Tinder and matched with a girl.

His physique was discovered beside a dumpster, with police discovering proof of a sedative used to knock him unconscious and rob him, Vice reported.

Police later arrested Evelyn Henao Herrera, who was accused of working with two gang members who allegedly ran robberies arrange by means of relationship apps.

Xiong’s homicide marks the twenty seventh violent demise of a non-migrant foreigner this 12 months in Colombia’s Aburra Valley, in response to the Medellín District Workplace.

Antioquia, the state the place Medellin is, has seen kidnapping soar by 88% in 2003, in response to the Nationwide Police. A minimum of 49 instances had been reported as of Oct. 31.