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THEY call themselves the Passport Bros – a controversial movement made up of thousands of men discontent with their lives in the West.
Inspired by online content, they travel to developing countries where their money can afford them a different kind of lifestyle – one with flashy penthouses and women on tap.
Instagram
U
UYet what first started out proclaiming itself a ‘men’s health movement’ has rapidly evolved into something far more sinister.
A new documentary about the Passport Bros – fronted by Taskmaster comedian and documentary-maker Jamali Maddix – lifts the lid on what life is really like for those who go abroad after being sold a dream by carefree TikTokers who’ve made the leap themselves.
Jamali travels to Medellin, Colombia and meets men who brag of bedding as many different women as possible – and others who make online videos boasting how far their money can get them on a date.
The men, often under the age of 30 and from America, say they want a more traditional girl than those they have experienced in the West.
The ones they meet are happy to cook, clean and romance them in return for being paid for.
Many of them meet over online dating apps, while others meet on the street or in clubs.
For some – in search of casual sex or easy hook-ups – it’s becoming increasingly dangerous.
Death trap
This January, the U.S. Embassy in Bogata, Colombia, issued a warning to tourists after eight suspicious deaths of U.S. citizens in the space of just two months in 2023.
Several of the deaths pointed to possible drugging and overdose and others involved the use of online dating apps.
In shocking scenes, Jamali meets two women who drug and rob unsuspecting Western men, like the Passport Bros, for a living.
U
UThe sinister duo – who conceal their identity with sunglasses and bandanas – use the deadly drug Scopolamine to render their victims unconscious.
In smaller doses, scopolamine is used in medical settings to treat motion sickness and post-op nausea; larger amounts can cause cardiac arrest.
Admitting they rob for cash, phones and gold, the women show Jamali a small vile – bought on the black market for £60.
Speaking via a translator, one tells him: “With that you can kill ten people but it’s better in powder form. You rub it on their chest. [If we gave it to you] you’d sleep for three days.”
One of the women then chillingly reveals that she killed a man in Bogota before fleeing the murder scene.
Speaking about the night she preyed on the unsuspecting victim in a club, she recalls: “A man came out and he had a lot of money.
“We were two girls. I had already given him the liquid and my friend gave him another dose so he overdosed and had a heart attack at the nightclub. Right there he became stiff.
“So we left and flew away, of course, but I knew from the television, from the newspapers, it was a problem.”
Justifying her crime, she says: “I know it’s bad but it’s my job. We all have to survive. I have children to look after. It seems better than prostitution.”
A man came out and he had a lot of money. We were two girls. I had already given him the liquid and my friend gave him another dose, so he overdosed and had a heart attack at the nightclub. Right there he became stiff.
HoneytrapperThe other woman flippantly adds: “Life goes on, life ends, so they die.”
The dangers around casual dating seem to fall on deaf ears with some of the Passport Bros, who call being dosed with the drug ‘being scoped’.
One jokes about the time he fell victim to being drugged and robbed.
Smiling, the young American tells Jamali: “Colombian women are the most beautiful in the world but they’re also the most dangerous.
“You never know what they might slip in your drink. You might wake up without your phone, iPad, credit cards missing, $5,0000 cash. I got scoped two years ago.”
Laughing that he can’t remember a thing he adds: “That’s the coolest part. I don’t know what happened.
“I woke up without my s**t. I took a girl on a date. It was a Tinder girl. We were at my house. We are sharing a drink. I’m kissing her. Then I woke up the next morning without my phone, iPad and wallet. I thought to myself, ‘I got, got!.”
He brags: “That was my third date that week.”
SELLING ‘THE DREAM’
U
InstagramOne of the movement’s biggest influencers is 24 year-old TikTok influencer Austin Abeyta. He goes by the TikTok name ‘Digital Bromad’.
Austin has travelled to a dozen countries, including Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines and South Korea.
He became disillusioned by his life working in Seattle, Washington state.
His job, at a computer science school, didn’t pay enough for anything more than a tiny shared apartment costing living $850 a month.
He decided to get a job as a data analyst instead. After it went remote during the pandemic in 2020 he decided to become a digital nomad and start travelling.
Explaining what a Passport Bros is, Austin says: “You’ve got to get a remote job.
“I think you should enjoy a life of freedom because the money is going to get you further and then you can date around the world.”
He now makes influential TikTok’s showing fans how they too can travel and afford great luxuries with Western cash.
Most heavily feature women, with many showing viewers how to date women for just a few dollars using their local currencies.
He explains: “ I think one in three men in America between 18 and 24 haven’t had sex in the past year.
“I’m trying to reach the younger me because the younger me was lost. I know who he is and I know he likes gorgeous girls.”
His TikToks – including a video called ‘How to date a Colombian woman for $10’ – have had over 19.4million likes.
He adds: “I like to see myself as waking them [men] up to what’s possible. A lot of influencers sell dreams. Fitness influences sell dreams.”
But quizzed about the dangers of foreign men naively picking up women during their travels who could drug them, Austin says: “I truly believe that men who make the move to get a remote job and come out here will have a better life but I can see how some men can get confused.”
I’m trying to reach the younger me because the younger me was lost. I know who he is and I know he likes gorgeous girls.”
Austin AbeytaHe sites the death of Californian Paul Nguyen.
The 27-year-old was found dead on a street corner in the seedy Cucaracho neighbourhood of Medellin in 2022, from a suspected overdose of scopolamine.
Austin admits: “There have been people who came out who got scoped like Paul Nguyen. He comes out a young kid and wants to date. His friend reached out to me and said ‘we had some of your TikToks on our channel’.”
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RedditNow a new wave of seemingly more carefree Passport Bros – known as Weekend Warriors – are arriving in developing countries like Colombia.
Often they’ll stay for just a few days to take advantage of the cheaper cost of living for nights out and dates.
Some – like Italian-born Jeffrey who was inspired to come to Colombia by Austin’s videos – are clear they’re after nothing more than sex.
Jeffrey, 24, has never visited America but tells Jamali: “The girls in America, the majority, are not very respectful to men. However, here in Colombia the girls are so respectful and know how to treat a man.”
Before bragging about multiple one-night stands, he says: “I want to be free. I want to try every race.”
Dating coach
U
InstagramSam Speaks has been living in Colombia for the past two years.
The real-life Hitch charges Passport Bros looking for love 3,000 dollars to help bait a Colombian girl.
He insists: “I have clients who are absolutely crushing it.”
One of them is Harry, a 37 year-old cyber security engineer, who moved to Colombia from Washington DC after being inspired by Passport Bros content.
In the documentary, Sam takes Harry on a shopping trip to help improve his image and encourages him to pick up girls on the street, as Sam delivers chat-up lines via an ear-piece.
Yet Harry insists he’s after a serious relationship. He tells Jamali: “I’m here to find possibly the mother of my kids. I’m not here just to date multiple girls.
“Girls in the U.S. that I have personally dated haven’t been the most affectionate. I actually left a girl who didn’t respect me.
“I told Sam ‘I watched your videos and I followed you on Instagram.’ Most people will think Sam is just a pick-up artist but he’s so much more than that.”
But even Sam is now warning about the dangers of casual hook-ups and scopolamine.
In one TikTok video he even warns men to ‘take a picture of a girl’s ID’ before bringing them home.
‘Dark parts’
U
UCrime in Colombia
FOR decades, Colombia has struggled with significant crime challenges.
Violent crime, especially homicides, remains a major issue, with drug trafficking and organised crime driving much of the violence.
Colombia is home to powerful criminal organisations like the Clan del Golfo and dissident groups from the former FARC guerrillas, which engage in narcotrafficking, extortion, and illegal mining.
Kidnappings, once rampant during the height of the guerrilla wars, have diminished but still occur, especially in rural areas.
Urban areas face high rates of theft, armed robbery, and assaults, making petty crime another widespread concern.
Last year, 13,432 homicides were recorded by Colombia’s National Police.
In the city of Medellin, over 80 foreigners have died in suspicious circumstances in the last three years.
Last year, 39 tourists died in the city alone, half of them Americans. Almost all the victims were men and were often last seen in their way to meet women for dates.
Jamali meets long-haired Passport Bro member Icon, who lives in a penthouse with other Passport Bros. They all work remotely and appear to revel in a Playboy-type lifestyle.
The group often have a flock of young Colombian women, tending to their every whim, around them.
American Icon, a blogger and corporate events planner who claims to have made a fortune in ticket sales through large events, insists his year-long Colombian girlfriend is far better than any American woman he has dated.
He says: “I’ve been with my girlfriend for a year. She can cook. She can dance. She’s amazing.
“I found in America I’d take out girls, spend $1000 on them. I’d get a hug and then I’d go home. In the stock market, we’d call that a bad investment.”
Like many Passport Bros, Icon has had bad dating experiences in the past. He and his partner seem happy.
The concern is that the movement is attracting some who are misogynists and others who don’t seem to care about the dangers.
Austin insists: “I can’t even change the movement if I wanted to. It started as like a men’s health movement. It’s about the remote work, about living.
“There’s a lot of dating and dating is one of the benefits, but then it became sort of women-bashing. There are some really dark parts of it.
“There are some super-misogynistic, super-hurt men. Those guys are ruining it for everyone else.”
Instagram
InstagramEpisode Two of Jamali Maddix: Follow The Leader “Passport Bros” is available to stream free on U now along with the box-set, with episode three and four airing on U&Dave weekly at 10pm from Oct 1st.
English (US)