UK arrests eight in global drug-and-rape network probe

London: The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) said Thursday eight people had been arrested as part of a probe into an international network of men drugging and sexually abusing women they know.

The alleged offences were reminiscent of the high-profile case of Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot, who was drugged and raped by her then-husband and by strangers for nearly a decade.

Since the 2025 trial and conviction of her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot, similar cases have come to light across Europe, from Germany to the Netherlands.

The NCA, which probes international and serious organised crime, said it had uncovered a global network of predominantly men suspected of similar offences, known as organised drug-facilitated sexual assault.

Following a 2025 probe by German journalists into an online forum being used to facilitate such offences, the British crime agency found "a truly international network with group members identified in dozens of countries spanning every continent", said Leary.

As a result of the NCA probe into the platform, which was not named, eight people in the UK have been arrested. There are a total of 14 separate investigations ongoing in the UK and abroad.

Last week, investigators from Brazil, Canada, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain, the United States and Europol met in London to share information on possible cases, said the agency.

The agency said it had identified over 270 individuals linked to the forum and its offshoots.

"Drug-facilitated sexual assault is no longer isolated behaviour, but increasingly organised," said NCA deputy director Nigel Leary, adding that it was being enabled by digital platforms.

"The scale of what we have seen so far is deeply concerning," Leary told journalists at a briefing, adding that such crimes are often "under-detected and under-reported" because the victim may not remember the abuse as a result of being sedated.

It's a "serious and evolving threat, rooted in domestic abuse," said Helen Millichap, director of the National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection.

The online and connected nature of the abuse means the "dimensions are changing", added Millichap.

Multiple investigations into such organised drugging and sexual offences are underway in the UK.

In Stockport, Manchester in the northwest, the husband of a woman who was allegedly drugged and sexually assault is set to stand trial in September alongside 12 other men accused of taking part in the sexual abuse.