Britain’s Crime Agency said eight people were arrested on suspicion of a man drugging and sexually assaulting his partner.

Posted Feb 7, 2026 – 21:10 GMT+2• Updated 21:13

Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Thursday it had arrested eight people as part of its investigation into an international network of men who drugged and sexually abused women they knew.

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The NCA, which investigates international crime, said in 2025 it discovered a global network of men suspected of crimes known as organized drug-facilitated sexual assault after German journalists tipped off platforms used to promote the crime.

NCA deputy director-general Nigel Leary said the Crime Commissioner had discovered “a truly international network with members of the group identified in dozens of countries across every continent”.

An NCA investigation into an unnamed online platform has led to eight people being arrested in the UK. A total of 14 separate investigations are ongoing in the UK and overseas.

The NCA said it had identified more than 270 individuals linked to the forum and its offshoots.

“Drug-assisted sexual assault is no longer an isolated act, but has become an increasingly organized act,” Leary said, adding that this is being made possible through digital platforms.

‘I am deeply concerned’

“The scale of what we have seen so far is very concerning,” Leary told reporters at the briefing, adding that these crimes are often “underdetected and underreported” because victims 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 Center for Violence against Women and Girls and Public Protection.

Millichap added that the online and connected nature of abuse meant “the dimensions are changing”.

Several investigations into these organized drug use and sex crimes are ongoing in the UK.

The husband of a woman who was allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted in Stockport, north-west Manchester, is due to stand trial in September along with a dozen other men accused of taking part in the sexual abuse.

The NCA said last week investigators from Brazil, Canada, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain, the United States and Europol met in London to share information about possible cases.

European Union (EU) law enforcement agency Europol said it had identified 156 victims and perpetrators of drug-assisted sexual assault (DFSA) as part of a separate operation against these crimes.

“The operation primarily focused on DFSA in intimate partner settings, particularly in the context of misogynistic online communities,” Europol said in a statement about the Project Medusa investigation.

Europol said it had discovered four new “misogynistic online communities” globally.

The criminal charges filed in the UK are reminiscent of the case of French woman Gisèle Pelicot. She was drugged and raped by her then-husband and strangers for nearly 10 years.

Following the trial and conviction of her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot in 2025, similar cases came to light across Europe, from Germany to the Netherlands.

Additional sources • AFP

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