Hunting on Grindr requires two pretty eyes, a sharp jaw and hundreds of miles of road. It is also advisable to have a plan and a criminal structure behind it, even if none of the victims eager for a pleasant evening, perhaps culminated in sporadic sex, will know it until they are cornered by the wolves. It is the law of instant attraction but in digital version, a haven for false identities, dates that do not happen and others that end in the worst possible way. Now, let’s go back to the origin.
On the night of June 22, a Grindr user without a profile picture and with one of the default names (Available) begins to throw the rod. In reality, he is not looking to become physically intimate with other men, but he knows the jargon used in the application. “Hello handsome”, “What are you looking for?”, “Do you have room” … The messages are direct, without embellishments or detours, faithful to a real objective: to meet the prey as soon as possible. “The conversations started around midnight and ended at 3 in the morning,” noted yesterday Paula, one of the investigators of the Group XIII of robberies of the Prefecture of the National Police of Madrid, in charge of solving the case.
To gain the trust of his interlocutor, the person who claims to be the originator of this account sends a trail of temporary photographs via chat. The recipient, aware that they are ephemeral, opens them and sees a relatively handsome young man. In fact, the operation will be called Adonis, in perfect harmony with what has been reported by some of the people involved; although you know, for tastes of color. In any case, the truth is that sending these images gives you enough peace of mind to receive them at home or go out to meet them away from prying eyes.
Yet, upon sight, the surprise is capital. In this case, the miracle of the fish and the loaves multiplies those gathered: “There were times when only one person made an appointment and two of them showed up, and other times when the victim knew he was going to meet two people and four showed up.” Using their numerical superiority and a high degree of violence, the Grindr ghosts intimidate their date to steal everything they can. They ask you for access to your bank account on your cell phone to send themselves things and transfers; jewelry, computers and tablets are stolen after a search of the house; and in doing so, they brutally beat him to submit him to their will at all times. Thus, up to seven occasions tested.
The thieves, always armed with knives and even a firearm, had different roles: the oldest, 41, drove the car in which they traveled from Castilla-La Mancha to different neighborhoods of Madrid; the youngest, 17, was a “manager” who always accompanied them; and the two young people in their twenties were divided between the “handsome one”, who provided the aforementioned provisional photos, and the “leader”, the most aggressive of all. In addition to having his belongings stolen, one of the people involved had his nose broken; another was cut off in an eye when he was hit; and a third was forced to get into the vehicle and buy beer at a gas station while being beaten.
As if that were not enough, they accompanied the attacks with a series of homophobic insults, which is why they were accused of seven robberies with violence and intimidation, injuries, belonging to a criminal group and hate crime. Their victims covered an open age range, from 22 years old (the youngest, an Erasmus student so traumatized that he only thought about returning to his country) to 55 years old. At the end of August, coinciding with the second complaint, an investigation was opened. ” was launched and bore fruit three weeks later, when the four suspects, all Spanish and friends of each other from the place in Castilla-La Mancha where they came from, fell in a park near the La Gavia shopping center.
There, in the shadows, they were about to commit a new coup, aborted thanks to the surveillance efforts and the quick action of the agents. Since then, the three adults sleep in prison and the 17-year-old does the same in a juvenile center.
