Police have launched multiple investigations into Britons suspected of drugging their wives and partners so they can be raped by others in the wake of the Gisele Pelicot case.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) revealed earlier today that they have identified eight cases in the UK as part of investigations into 270 individuals worldwide linked to a major online abuse forum.

Following an international operation to uncover networks where men are coordinating drug rapes, eight suspects have been arrested and eight victims have been safeguarded in the UK.

Investigators believe that there are many more forums which have not yet been uncovered where men have been secretly drugging their wives and girlfriends so they can be sexually exploited by other men on camera.

The victims are sedated with drugs or alcohol before being raped and assaulted, with videos and photos of the attacks shared online.

Following a tip-off from German journalists investigating the sickening phenomenon, the NCA prepared 15 intelligence reports on abuse in Britain after uncovering ‘organised networks’ of offenders connected both online and offline.

Overseas, another ten men have been arrested.

In many of the cases, the victims have been abused for a number of years while they were unconscious and they often do not realise that they have been targeted until being contacted by police.

Gisele Pelicot, 73, waived her right to anonymity as a survivor of sexual abuse. Her ex-husband Dominique was jailed for 20 years for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious

‘The scale of what we have seen so far has left us deeply concerned,’ said Nigel Leary, Deputy Director of the NCA.

‘Drug facilitated sexual assault is no longer isolated behaviour, but increasingly organised, conducted via coordinated networks and enabled by digital platforms, requiring a more sophisticated operational response.

‘We and our law enforcement partners are clear in our message to anyone involved in this horrendous offending: if you drug, rape, facilitate rape, abuse, record abuse or coordinate these crimes online, we will identify you and your networks and bring you to justice.’

It comes after serial rapist Dominique Pelicot was jailed for 20 years in France in 2024 for drugging his then wife, Gisèle, raping her and inviting dozens of men to abuse her over nearly a decade.

More recently, 13 men are separately facing trial in September following a Greater Manchester Police investigation into the drug-facilitated sexual abuse of a woman which was led by her husband.

Now a coordinated national law enforcement response has been announced to tackle the issue after investigators discovered similar drug rape rings elsewhere in the UK where women have been assaulted for decades in some cases.

In some of the forums uncovered, there are sickening conversations about what drugs to use for sedation, what type of acts to carry out and tactics to avoid detection.

Siobhan Blake, National CPS lead for Rape and Serious Sexual Offences, said: ‘The abuse we’re discussing is some of the most horrifying I have seen in my career. Victims are being subject to horrendous sexual offending in their own homes in an ultimate breach of trust.

‘This offending thrives in secrecy online and behind closed doors. It is the job of the criminal justice system to bring it out into the open to deliver for victims and survivors.’