Five people were arrested for allegedly participating in a group sexual assault on a young woman who was subjected to date rape drugging in Marbella
Agents involved in the investigation are trying to determine the degree of participation of each one in the events that occurred on March 5th 2024.
Those arrested are aged between 19 and 32 years old, and are a mixture of Germans and Kosovans. According to police inquiries, they allegedly took the young woman, originally from Mongolia, to a hotel located in Marbella and allegedly sexually assaulted her.
The group assault took place on March 5th and the agents are trying to determine the degree of participation of each of them as well as what substance they administered to the victim.
Reports of Chemical Submission Cases on the Rise in Malaga
Chemical submission/ drink spiking or doping- is a real issue, not a myth. There are two predominant victim profiles: young women and the elderly. Among the former, the crimes committed are usually sexual in nature, while among the latter, they tend to be economic. Chemical submission occurs when a victim is involuntarily given a substance that alters their level of consciousness and renders them powerless. Forensic expert and author of a prevention guide on this practice, Esperanza López, states, “There are now more reports,” though she qualifies, “We don’t know if there are more cases.” That depends on subsequent analyses and investigations confirming them.
According to data from the Clinical Hospital, they have treated 12 cases of sexual assault on women from January to June of this year. Five of them – nearly half – involved chemical submission.
These victims ranged from 20 to 45 years old, with eight being Spanish and the rest foreigners. Additionally, during this period, the hospital attended to four other patients who also experienced chemical submission, typically for theft.
López explains that most crimes committed under chemical submission usually have a sexual nature, such as abuse or assault. “The majority of victims are young women,” she adds. However, she clarifies that chemical submission is not exclusive to a specific type of crime or gender. It can also be used on the elderly “to rob or defraud them,” or even to “render them immobile so they don’t cause trouble.” That’s why she insists that chemical submission “is not exclusive to sexual offenses.”
But in most cases, the victim profile is that of a young woman who recalls being at a party and waking up “in a different place, often naked, confused, and with the feeling that something happened, though not knowing exactly what.”
Belén Nogales, head of Emergency Services at the Virgen de la Victoria hospital complex, notes that while these cases occur year-round, they increase in summer and in coastal areas, where there’s an influx of tourists and transient populations. “Few victims from the interior arrive,” she asserts. Additionally, although she maintains that the vast majority of victims in sexual assault cases are women, she mentions that there are also men. She recalls, for example, the case of a man who last remembered being in a nightclub and woke up naked in a nearby vacant lot.
López attributes the increase in reports of chemical submission to several factors: there is now more social activity than a few years ago, professionals have more training and better ways of detecting it, and people are more aware of reporting it. However, sometimes victims hesitate to file a report due to the fear of double victimization, as they are not only victims of sexual assault but also seen as imaginative or deceitful or judged for immoral behavior.
As reports increase, protocols for assisting these victims have been established, and coordination between healthcare centers, the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML), and law enforcement agencies has been improved.
Nogales explains that when a suspected victim arrives at the Emergency Department, the Emergency Services 112 is called, which in turn activates the National Police or the Civil Guard. The forensic examiner is also notified. This way, the alleged victim receives medical attention, can file a report, and undergo sample collection for legal purposes in a subsequent judicial process. If the person decides not to report, professionals still inform the duty judge of having attended to a “suspected” case of chemical submission.
Samples of blood, urine, and hair are taken at the Clinical Hospital. The substances used for chemical submission have widely varying times to disappear from the body. Their effects in blood and urine dissipate quickly, whereas they can remain in hair for several weeks. In the hospital, victims are attended to by gynecologists if they are women and by surgeons in the case of men. Additionally, they are tested for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, while being administered HIV prophylaxis.
In cases of sexual assault involving chemical submission, alcohol is involved in over 90% of cases. “It’s a versatile, legal drug that’s easily accessible and not socially frowned upon,” explains López. Generally, this substance is combined with others. Nogales lists opioids, scopolamine, benzodiazepines, liquid ecstasy, and many others. When absorbed into the bloodstream, these substances act on the central nervous system, altering consciousness and nullifying the will.
“They are colorless and tasteless substances that the victim doesn’t notice,” comments Nogales. They are usually mixed, in powder form, into the victims’ drinks without their consent. Nogales clarifies that, contrary to popular belief, scopolamine is not the most common. Common medications such as Trankimazin or Orfidal (benzodiazepines) are often used by those seeking to incapacitate their victims for criminal purposes.
