Airport Safety, Medellin, Colombia

[pablo]

A friend of mine had a brush with armed robbery/kidnapping at the airport in Medellin recently.  He took one of the many taxis waiting for customers outside the terminal and the driver was apparently in cahoots with two guys on a motorcycle once they got outside the airport.

The taxi driver stopped for the cycle when they told him to pull over but this driver had put on his blinkers before approaching the cycle.  He was told not to stop but did anyway.  One of the guys on the bike got in the taxi and had a gun.  My friend was able to jump out and ran for help.  He left everything of his in the taxi.  Fortunately he wasn’t hurt and the police were able to catch two of the three involved in this scam and recover his belongings.  This happened a short time ago with a few French guys coming into Medellin.  

It would be best to arrange for a pickup rather than using these taxis.  If you have to use a yellow cab, choose wisely on which driver you use.

[papi]

Pablo, i have had arguments with BP about this before and always said it is better to have someone trusty on airport p/u. your friend is lucky. Do you have a truty taxi in Mde you can recommend? contact info?

[pablo]

As a matter of fact, I do have two trusted people who pick people up at the airport for the same price as what the taxis charge (currently 40.000 pesos is what taxis charge, I think).  If anyone wants to send me a PM I can provide contact information for them.

Pablo

Escobar's Taxi Services

[papi]

pablo escobars taxi...haha. lets hope not! fyi, the price was $35K before but no point in worry over $2.00. the worst part about mde, is that drive to the airport. ok, i might like to get that info from you on your taxi contacts. thanks

[pablo]

By happenstance, I took a gander over at PBH later today and saw the same story posted there by tomtom33.

“A good Gringo friend who owns a house near Parque Lleras taxied in from the airport on Wed. night around 9:00 pm. Two guys on a motorcycle pulled up alongside the cab with a gun. The cabbie pulled over. My friend thinks that the cabbie was in on it. The two robbers jumped into the cab and grabbed his watch and wallet. One took the wheel and took off like a bat out of hell. The first time the cab slowed down enough, my friend jumped out and ran. He believed that they were going to kidnap him for ransom.

Believe it or not the cops caught the guys. One guy with the watch and wallet got away on foot. All the rest of the stuff (suitcases, etc.) was returned. My friend spent the whole night in the police station then had to show up in court the next day. He is very grateful to be alive.
Moral of the story, especially at night: take the bus or arrange to have a taxi waiting. A Colombian friend of my friend's says never hail a taxi from the street in MDE.”

I was told this evening that a good Samaritan found his wallet the next day and turned it in.  The Gringo had to stay overnight in the police station because he had to identify the robbers in a lineup.  It was weird that he couldn’t have just gone to the police station the next day but it’s another country with different customs.  Speaking of which there was no long drawn out court dates for these bad guys.  They reportedly saw the judge a few days later to get the book thrown at them.  At first it was going to be 30 years in prison then plea bargained down to “only” 15 as they want to get the “mastermind”.  As for the taxi driver the judge reportedly said to him he would be presumed guilty until proven innocent.

Seems like the city doesn’t take too kindly to these culprits tarnishing Medellin’s fine international image of year round perfect weather, those wonderful pretty Paisas, impeccable safety, but most likely, not wanting to scare off any foreign tourist dollars.

Pablo

Picasso's Painting Services