Belgium bar owners arrested over drink spikings and assaults of dozens of women

Three bar managers in Belgium are among five men who have been arrested in connection with an investigation into the rape and sexual assault of dozens of women, local police say.

Prosecutors said the suspects were linked to the spiking of drinks of at least 41 female victims from December 2021 to December 2024.

The three suspects ran the establishments in the north-western city of Kortrijk where the spikings took place. Investigators say they believe they discussed the attacks with each other.

The Western Flanders public prosecutor’s office said in total five men were arrested on Wednesday and Thursday in connection with the investigation into spiking.

Two men who were arrested appeared before an investigating judge on Thursday, prosecutors said.

Another two men are still being questioned by detectives while the fifth man has been released after being interviewed.

The men are suspected of rape, sexual assault and illegal administration of harmful substances, the prosecutor’s office said.

Officials believe drugs were mixed into the women’s drinks, including ketamine, a general anaesthetic used for recreational purposes because of its hallucinogenic effects.

“The young women were offered shots of alcohol, often with an amaretto flavour, after which they woke up the next morning groggy in an unknown bed or in their own bed with clear evidence of sexual abuse,” Tom Janssens, another spokesman for the prosecutor’s office spokesman, told Flemish public television VRT.