Having recently ended a turbulent two-year relationship, Jon* decided to open a profile on the gay dating app Grindr and explore Bogotá’s singles scene. He knew the Colombian city well, having visited regularly for over a decade, and spoke fluent Spanish.
One evening in March 2023, a friend canceled a dinner date near where Jon was staying in the upscale Parque Virrey neighborhood, so he went to the restaurant alone. While there, a man he had been chatting with on Grindr reached out.
Highlights
- Jon was drugged with lethal doses of scopolamine and Rohypnol after meeting 'El Grindr,' nearly dying from the attack in Bogotá.
- Mario Modesti, dubbed 'The Monster of Grindr,' allegedly used Grindr and his tourist guide role to drug, rob, and harm mainly foreign visitors in Bogotá.
- Modesti faces charges for two aggravated thefts and one homicide; a Costa Rican victim died from an overdose during a robbery in July 2023.
- He reportedly used scopolamine, also known as 'devil's breath,' to elicit compliance from his victims.
- Survivors like Jon endure long-term trauma requiring years of therapy; he urges systemic change beyond just arresting Modesti.
Jon invited him for a drink. The man, identifying himself as ‘El Grindr,’ claimed to be a Paraguayan oil and gas worker.
Image credits: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek/Getty Images
At the restaurant, El Grindr suggested sharing a bottle of wine. Jon agreed. During the conversation, he went to the toilet, and that’s when he believes his drink was spiked.
“Something happened there for sure. Because I don’t remember anything after leaving the restaurant,” Jon said in a recent video call.
The next day, when Jon didn’t show up for work or answer his phone, colleagues checked with the hotel reception. They confirmed Jon had returned the night before, but hadn’t left in the morning. When he didn’t respond, they insisted on accessing his room and found him naked on the floor, having a seizure.
A photograph of ‘The Monster of Grindr’ that Jon sent to BP Daily. Image credits: Supplied
“I don’t remember anything, but from what they say, I was conscious,” he said. He acknowledged he could have easily died if his colleagues hadn’t intervened.
Jon was taken to a clinic for blood tests, an MRI, a colonoscopy, and IV treatment. Tests revealed scopolamine and Rohypnol in his system.
“According to the medical report, I had four times the lethal level of scopolamine and Rohypnol combined inside me. It should have killed me. He intended to kill me,” Jon said.
At least one dead
Jon’s experience mirrors others allegedly targeted by Mario Antonio Modesti Cañizález, a 37-year-old Venezuelan captured in Bogotá in February. Modesti reportedly used Grindr and his role as a tourist guide to target foreign visitors.
Once he gained the trust of victims, he drugged and robbed them. For most, this caused financial ruin; for at least one, it was fatal.
Mario Antonio Modesti Cañizález’s alleged hunting ground was Bogotá, Colombia. Image credits: Filippo Manaresi/Getty Images
Judicial records show Modesti faces three criminal processes: two for aggravated theft and one for homicide. A source at the Colombian Attorney General’s Office (Fiscalia) confirmed the homicide victim was a Costa Rican citizen who died in Bogotá in July 2023, apparently from an overdose during a robbery.
A preparatory hearing related to that killing is set for mid-November.
BP Daily approached the Costa Rican Embassy in Colombia for comment, but no response had been received by the time of publication.
The total number of victims is unknown. The Colombian National Police documented 40 drug-facilitated robberies in one month alone, and the Fiscalia source said Modesti may have operated for at least two years.
Image credits: Supplied
Image credits: Supplied
A prolific crime spree
The high number of incidents in a single month suggests the total number of victims could reach the hundreds. Modesti reportedly targeted mainly American and French visitors but also German, Italian, and Thai nationals.
His methods earned him the nickname ‘The Monster of Grindr’ in the local press. According to the Fiscalia source, his tactics varied, including “paseo millonario” or express kidnappings, in which victims are held in vehicles, forced to provide bank PINs, and transported between ATMs.
Those crimes are usually carried out by groups, and authorities confirmed Modesti is part of a broader criminal network operating between Bogotá and the nearby city of Villavicencio.
However, he focused on accessing hotels and apartments to steal cash, valuables, and documents.
Victims report huge losses
Local reports indicate the value of the 40 robberies in one month totaled nearly $130,000. In Jon’s case alone, Modesti stole a computer, phone, jewelry, documents, and cash valued at nearly US $40,000. The total stolen across his alleged criminal career could be millions.
Modesti allegedly targeted foreign men through the Grindr dating app. Image credits: freepik (Not the actual photo)
A recently reported account from the friend of a 62-year-old German victim, Hans Müller, dates back to November 2021, suggesting Modesti was operating for at least a year longer than authorities have admitted.
Müller was found naked, assaulted, and barely conscious in a north Bogotá hotel room two days after meeting a man on Grindr—with two phones, a wallet, a watch, and bank cards missing.
He was taken to a clinic, but was initially too dehydrated to provide a urine sample. After hours on IV, no substances were detected in his system.
The dangers of scopolamine
The inability to detect scopolamine in Müller’s system despite him showing signs of having ingested it illustrates the drug’s short pharmacological half-life of about nine hours.
Victims often suffer effects for weeks, yet within 48 hours, it can be undetectable in blood and urine.
The drug is derived from the Brugmansia plant, or angel’s trumpet, which contains scopolamine and other powerful alkaloids concentrated in its roots and seeds.
The processed product comes in liquid or powdered form and can be slipped into food or drink, injected, applied to the skin, or blown into a victim’s face, earning it the nickname “devil’s breath.”
Angel’s trumpet contains scopolamine and other powerful alkaloids concentrated in its roots and seeds. Image credits: UK Addiction Treatment Centres
Scopolamine makes victims compliant and suggestible, causing them to reveal personal information like addresses, PINs, passwords, and hiding places for valuables. However, effective doses are tiny, and overdoses are common, typically causing severe medical complications or death.
Its use in robberies against foreigners drew international attention in early 2024, when the U.S. Embassy in Colombia issued a security alert citing eight “suspicious deaths” of U.S. citizens in Medellín from November to December 2023.
“Several of the deaths point to possible drugging, robbery, and overdose, and several involve the use of online dating applications,” the alert stated.
Colombian authorities said Modesti may have operated for at least two years. Image credits: Chepa Beltran/Long Visual Press/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Survivors suffer long-term effects
Jon considers himself lucky to have survived, despite multiple seizures in the days following his attack, some caused by over-the-counter barbiturates he took to sleep, which he cannot recall taking.
When he regained awareness, he was strapped to a bed in what he described as “a holding place for super f****d up and dying people” in a public hospital.
“The doctors come in—two psychiatrists and one medical doctor—and they ask, ‘Do you know where you are? Your name? Your birthday?’” he recalled.
He knew that information but had no sense of the date or the week since the attack, despite apparently being lucid enough during that time to attempt returning to work.
“I found out I was actually in my third hospital,” he added.
An image of a forged American passport reportedly found on Modesti. Image credits: Supplied
Jon then embarked on two years of trauma therapy, including regular psychiatric sessions and extended use of antidepressants and antianxiety medication.
“I'm still under treatment. I see the psychiatrist once every three months now, and I see different types of therapists,” he said.
Modesti remains in custody, facing three cases that could bring long prison terms, while authorities appeal for additional victims to come forward. Yet scopolamine remains readily available, and drugging incidents persist in Colombian cities.
For Jon, the arrest provides limited relief.
“He ruined my life for two years,” he said. “But he’s just one man. This is bigger than him. Until people here stop blaming victims and start confronting the system that allows this, it will go on.”
*Jon’s full name has been withheld to protect his privacy.
