Pay attention to the bottom paragraph Matt P something I already told you and you can't find in your library studies.
This isn't the complete page too fricking big, sorry.
[url]http://www.expat-chronicles.com/2012/09/noah-goldberg-medellin-colombia-sex-tourism/[/url]
48-year-old US citizen Noah Goldberg was shot dead in May 2012, the second American killed in Medellin that year. Medellin is prone to gang violence, but I never felt unsafe during my three trips totaling over 6 weeks. When I read about gringos getting killed, I always wonder how it went down. Botched robbery? Drunken argument?
And I always conclude that Medellin may not be as safe as it feels. However, there's more to the Goldberg story than was reported. The newspapers mentioned that Goldberg ran a travel agency, but none reported that it catered to sex tourism. I only learned recently from an offhand reader email. I started researching the case and wound up going down the rabbit hole. Goldberg's death was an international news story, and the public largely concluded that his murder was random (myself included). The city of Medellin and greater Colombia undeservedly took the blame. However, random violence didn't kill Noah Goldberg.
Like Goldberg, I also did brothel tours. But there were huge differences between how Goldberg and I managed our businesses – mainly in what I call 'Push vs. Pull' marketing. The fact that I didn't know who Goldberg was when he was murdered goes to show how much I wasn't plugged into the sex tourism community. I did little to promote my tours. My attitude was, 'I'll throw a site up. If someone bites, great. ' I threw a site up, linked to it from my blog, and that was it. I only found out about the sex tourism forums when clients told me. A few had mentioned me. Still, I never joined or pursued them. A gringo buddy used to pressure me to print business cards and promote in the tourist areas, but I never did. I never worked out deals with hotels. A few brothels offered commission, which I took. But my entire marketing efforts included nothing more than the website. At the first sign of stress, I closed shop.
Goldberg, on the other hand, pushed his tours. He was well known on sex tourism forums, **************. Com (CRT) and InternationalSexGuide. Info (ISG). He offered discounts for CRT members – a paid membership focusing on Costa Rica. He had a reputation among the *****mongers ('mongers') as a shameless self-promoter. He worked out deals with hotels to create sex tourism travel packages. He got cuts from every angle. He was building and promoting a full-time sex tourism business with multiple revenue streams. He was immersed in the industry.
Before setting up shop in Medellin, Goldberg briefly worked in Latin America's sex tourism capital, San Jose, Costa Rica. He quickly made many enemies and moved to Colombia. Much of this article uses less-than-concrete sources. However, this much has been established as fact:
Noah Goldberg ran Medellin Paisa Tours, a travel agency catering to sex tourism. He made enemies in Costa Rica and Colombia.
He was killed while with a client.
In addition to Medellin Paisa Tours, Goldberg had begun loaning money in Medellin.
He was killed by two gunmen who were drinking beer at an adjacent table. There were no words beforehand, no argument. There was no robbery. They stood up, produced pistols, and shot him twice – once in the head, once in the shoulder.
That's been established. The rest of this article is based on anonymous witnesses, forum posts, etc.
Here's a detailed testimonial of Goldberg's services:
Medellin Paisa Tour Update:
After coming back from Santa Fe, we decided to extend our trip and see more of Medellin. There was a last-minute cancellation of a reservation in this penthouse in Castropol, Poblado. And Medellin Paisa hooked us up with a great deal. So we decided to stay for 3 more days, and our friend from Miami flew in and we stayed in this 5-br penthouse overlooking the city. Incredible place, great deal, with views of the whole city. Party palace.
Got set up with a private chef. Amazing Italian meal. We then sat in the group jacuzzi.
.
The more I saw there, the more I smiled. Friends and I were hooked up with amazing women. No bs, no clock-watchers, and not one time did any of them pick up their cell phones. Original deal was for 3 hours with them, and they stayed and partied with us all night. The girls left in the morning and thanked us for a good time.
To add icing to the cake, for our final night, Medellin Paisa kept talking about our 'final surprise'. We all took naps in the afternoon and then went out for a nice seafood dinner somewhere off 'La Setenta'. I had a delicious red snapper, my friends were all happy. When we asked what the surprise was, he kept smiling his devilish smile. At this point, it was just Medellin Paisa's crew and our crew, which was all guys. We kept wondering when we were going to see some women.
When the surprise was finally unveiled, we were all pleasantly surprised. We were taken to this discrete, and very private after hours club.
.
The place was somewhere close to Estadio off one of the circles. We went up to the gate, and were welcomed in and escorted to the second floor, where there was a bar, a dance floor with a pole, and many lounge rooms. In the far back, is an outdoor terrace, where people were smoking cigarettes and talking. The management and staff clearly knew Medellin Paisa very well.
Everyone came up and gave him a kiss or shook his hand. We were given a bottle of aguardiente on the house, and escorted to a private lounge with couches and tables. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. We sat down, and immediately were greeted by 6 beautiful paisas who asked us if there was anything we needed. I ordered a beer for myself and friends, and was pleasantly surprised it only cost 3000 pesos / beer.
We watched some girls dance, the owner, a beautiful blonde paisa, came over and sat down to talk with us. We spent a couple hours just chatting and drinking with the women. No one ever asked us for anything. No pressure at all.
At 2:30 in the morning, I heard the doorbell ring, saw 4 taxi's down on the street with women pouring out of them. About 15-20 women walked through the door, and we had the choice of women in the place. I chose a tall, black haired beauty from Baranquilla. Rocked my world, and only for 70, 000 pesos. She eventually came home with me.
I was surprised to see the sun rising. Had no idea how much time had passed.
Lucky we still made our flight at 2 pm. The last night was definitely one of the most interesting nights of my life, still with a smile on my face as I type this.
See two more testimonials.
Clients could book an entire tour on the Medellin Paisa Tours website. His prices reflected up to a 50% markup on hotel rooms. He charged $65 USD taxi from the airport (which should never be more than 65, 000 pesos). This is how Goldberg irked many in the mongers community, which organized to share information and benefit from collective knowledge. One monger published this sarcastic post, summing up the mongers' criticisms of Goldberg:
I just spent a week in Medellin and I booked my trip thru Medellin Paisa. He had a car waiting for me at the airport for $65. Its okay that the actual rate is about $50, since I was informed that you could get kidnapped if you just grab any taxi.
The Lincoln Hotel was very good. They were kind to tell me that we Americans can not book direct and get the $60 rates because of some law there so we must book thru a third party and pay about 40% more.
Medellin Paisa introduced me to a few very nice ladies. I thought the $150 a night rate was high but they said it was fair. It was strange that no Colombian women give blowjobs, They all hate it.
I don not understand why I need to send them Western Union but, they are poor, so what the Hell.
Everyday I was informed of the multiple muggings all around town and the many hotel break ins.
I am glad I have a friend for life now. This was the best $5, 000 vacation that I ever had.
When these criticisms were leveled, Goldberg often mocked and insulted the members. Here's a senior monger admonishing him:
CRT members can be tough and demanding with their service providers. Fortunately, the successful CRT sponsors live and breath customer service, have very thick skin and offer decent value for their goods or services. You can learn alot from the gulch business owners who address issues and complaints on here. They listen to the feedback from the guys on here and make adjustments accordingly without feeling hurt and throwing insults at potential customers. If a provider offers a decent product, the positive posts you read on here are just the tip of the iceberg. The meaningful, market-capturing kudos are spread via word of mouth & private conversations. Maybe, it's time to step back and re-evaluate if your business model is not working as planned. Your business should give your customers the product they want at a price that is 'fair and reasonable'. Good luck.
Goldberg was known to emphasize the danger in Colombia and drop scopolamine warnings. This is not uncommon among legit tour guides I know in Colombia. I've never seen anyone do it to the extent he did, but some gringo tour guides exaggerate the danger to justify taking personalized tours. And scopolamine should be on the radar of gringos visiting Colombia, especially if they're going to be partying with prostitutes.
Here are selections showing Goldberg's emphasis on the security element in his services:
There are many places in Medellin that are not for the faint-of-heart. The trick is to be discrete! Todo es Muy Discreto en Medallo.
For example, despite what he says, this Club is not for a guy like Bbrocs who speaks absolutely no Spanish & must rely on his right-hand-man to act as translator & protector. If you offend the wrong person you may be on your last trip to Medallo!
But the members on this Board seemed to express a true interest in visiting this type of Club (there are many more of these types of underground clubs in Medallo). It can be a lot of fun if you have the street smarts & know how to talk the talk!
I have brought many friends to this Club & they have had a fantastic time! Take a look at the Trip Report by Kansas Cowboy on the first page in this ever-expanding thread. He & his crew had an amazing evening!
Medellin can be a dangerous place but the owner of this Club is a wonderful woman (Her name is Kate La Gata) who has expressed an interest in entertaining foreigners. I always feel more than welcome in her Casa.
Just remember that the Narcos like to share their chicas. If a fellow guest expresses an interest in your chica de noche I would suggest that you offer to share. In return they will share their chicas with you!
.
I don't just provide translator services. I have a five man crew of guides and we watch the back of our clients (I know the owners & security at the Club as well).
But at the same time I would never bring a loud-mouth client to this Club (Wink-Wink). It would only be a headache for everyone involved!
.
The point I was trying to make regarding Bbrocs is that, whether you speak Spanish or not, if you don't know 'PEOPLE'down here in Medallo you put yourself at some risk.
I don't have a corner on this market (knowing People) but I take my guide responsibilities seriously & would never put a client / friend at risk. If a client wants to take a Walk on the Wildside an important part of our job is to make sure that they can focus on enjoying themselves & not have to worry about anything. If a situation arises where it becomes unsafe for our clients, myself & my crew of guides will firmly suggest that it is time to move on. Our job is to anticipate any type of trouble before it even happens. Being a good Brujo is part of what we are all about!
.
Once again, I would strongly advise that you only visit this type of Casa if you are capable of reading the eyes of people (I. E you have street-smarts). Just relying on a translator can get you in a lot of trouble. Many Colombians would never consider frequenting this type of Casa.
As they say down here in PaisaLandia.
Usted tiene que leer los ojos de la gente!
.
Let's wait to see & hear from the CRT Membership what kind of experiences they have at the Club. If there is a positive response from both the CRT Membership as well as the owner / staff of the Club I will be happy to include the addresses of other locations. I am being a little bit cautious because I am not completely confident that CRT members can go to a place like this without a proper escort. Perhaps, Jimmy will volunteer to be our test case! If he survives the experience it will prove that almost anyone can go to this type of Club!
To answer your question: The Club is both eat-in & take-out. There is no bar fine involved! But the Club has certain chicas that are on staff & these chicas are not allowed to leave with a client. But at the same time many chicas just show up to party (usually after 2 am) & are free to leave with a potential client, or rent one of the rooms for a private party. Generally the rates for a chica and room are only $70, 000. Pesos for an hour but I don't want to commit to this price quote because it can depend on the chica & the type of customer (I. E. YMMV). Also please remember that many of these chicas have never met / nor been with a gringo before. They are Narco Party Girls but you need to be very careful with them if you decide to leave with one of them. I would suggest that for first encounters that you party in the club & rent one of the rooms.
One more bit of advice:
This is not the kind of Casa where you just pop-in to take a look at the menu like other Casas in El Centro! The etiquette is that you come in. They show you to a lounge area. You buy a drink (Only $4, 000 pesos for a beer) & other optional party favors. And then you invite the chicas in to your lounge area to party with you. If you want to just pop-in for 5 minutes I seriously doubt that they will ever let you back in through the front door ever again. They also might suspect you of being a DEA agent or some other type of police officer! LOL!
Just remember that this is an underground type of Club. There are rules that must be followed, and these rules are not written down!
That is why I strongly suggest that if you frequent a club like this that you go with someone who has experience dealing with this form of Paisa Entertainment. It is highly unlikely that you will see other Gringos in this type of Club!
He was eventually banned from **************, so he migrated to InternationalSexGuide. From ISG, here's Goldberg attacking another brothel tour guide:
Thank God I am not Colombia Jake. Most of his clients seem to get Drugged these days if the rumors are true. Unlike Jake I am fluent in English, Spanish, French & Hebrew!
I am not on steroids, just living the dream in PaisaLandia! I know Medallo in a way that most Gringos will never know the City of Eternal Spring.
Don't be jealous, because I love to share my knowledge. LOL! Maybe I will throw you a bone just like I have done for TweedleD & Legal Tender. Assuming you will be nice & sweet to me! LOL!
If I come across as if I am on steroids it is only because I provide a very special VIP Concierge service to my clients and that is why I am almost completely booked for the next 5 months.
Colombia Jake is scrounging for clients at the Poblado Metro station. LOL! While I deal in geishas and offer tours of the surrounding pueblos & comunas.
I know Jake & I would never consider him a friend but he aint a bad guy! No! Really!
Before the next two posts, an anecdote about this industry. I once met an American in Bogota on business who had gone to an upscale northern *****house. His tab was well over $1, 000 USD, and he and his buddies were still partying when he was summoned by the manager. My acquaintance brought his translator and sat with the manager's entourage. After the manager spoke, the translator told my acquaintance to thank the manager for letting him drink with him. The translator helped my acquaintance in saying the words to thank the manager for letting him drink at his brothel.
That brothel is most likely a money-laundering operation for narcos. Any manager who wanted to run a legal, profitable brothel would be thanking and kissing the ass of a customer who drops over a grand in one night. However, this brothel doesn't need to be a profit center. In fact, it may be able to launder more cocaine profit if it's not. This money-laundering brothel manager . Probably not a powerful position within his organization – felt he was being shown up by the gringo with deep pockets, and decided to throw his weight around.
The point of this story is to illustrate who's running many of the legal brothels – narcos. They don't only run brothels, they launder money in a variety of industries: hotels, cell phones, anything. But narco money-laundering operations are especially popular in the sex industry. And they don't announce to clients and tour guides that they're money-hemorrhaging fronts for other operations. Keep that in mind when reading these next passages.
