Bar owners arrested over assaults on 41 women in Belgium

According to local police, five men have been detained in connection with an investigation into the sexual assault and rape of numerous women, including three bar managers in Belgium.

Prosecutors indicated that the suspects were associated with the drugging of drinks of no fewer than 41 female victims between December 2021 and December 2024.

The three suspects operated the venues in the north-western city of Kortrijk where the spikings occurred. Investigators state they think they talked about the attacks amongst themselves.

The public prosecutor’s office in Western Flanders reported that five men were detained on Wednesday and Thursday as part of the spiking investigation. Two of the arrested individuals faced an investigating judge on Thursday, according to prosecutors.

Two more men are currently undergoing questioning by detectives, while the fifth man has been freed following his interview. The prosecutor’s office stated that the men are suspected of rape, sexual assault, and unlawful administration of harmful substances.

Authorities suspect that drugs, such as ketamine—a general anesthetic often used recreationally for its hallucinogenic properties—were added to the women’s beverages.

“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 .