‘It happens so easily’: Inside the police operation to tackle the terrifying new wave of spiking

It’s nearly midnight on a Monday, but outside one of south London’s best-loved nightclubs, a queue is only just beginning to form. A stream of tipsy youngsters spills into the freshers’ glow rave at the Ministry of Sound, disappearing into the iconic venue in a cloud of vape smoke and dizzying excitement.

Sat nearby, three people in puffer jackets are quietly observing their every move. They’re on the lookout for anyone whose behaviour doesn’t quite fit this scene – a partygoer who seems a little too preoccupied with the security around, or a man who makes a beeline to a lone woman.

The trio are plain-clothed police officers, and they know that in the clubbers’ youthful elation there is also naivety and people looking to exploit it. The Independent was invited to go behind the scenes with the Metropolitan Police on an anti-spiking operation as the force tries to crack down on an increase in cases involving vapes laced with synthetic drugs, as well as the use of antihistamines and travel sickness tablets.

“I think there is a perception historically that people use GHB or rohypnol in order to spike victims,” detective superintendent Tony Reseigh, who is a violence against women and girls (VAWG) lead at the Met, said.

“What we are seeing now is a greater use of over-the-counter drugs such as sleeping tablets and antihistamines to carry out those offences, and also more conventional drugs like cocaine and ketamine.”

For many out tonight, this will be among their first experiences of clubbing in the capital, and police are keen to raise awareness of this emerging threat. Inside the club’s smoking area, two officers have set up a one-of-a-kind piece of experimental kit that detects the presence of THC , the main psychoactive chemical in cannabis or synthetic cannabinoids such as spice, inside vapes. Students are encouraged to hand over their e-cigarettes and see what colour the machine blinks – purple for THC, red for a synthetic drug, or green for nothing detected.

“I bought mine off a street corner,” one student confesses as he hands over his vape pen, then bounds off with it once he is given the all clear. A queue of curious freshers begins to form – police hope that each one of them will go away with a little more awareness of the risks that sharing a vape with a stranger could pose.

Students told The Independent they feel they have to think about safety “all the time” while out. “As a woman its something that I’m very, very aware of,” UAL student Violet Blythe said. “I’m always aware of my drinks, anything I’m touching, my body.”

She was one of many students who used the machine to test her vape, and said she is conscious of people using vapes to spike victims. “It can so easily happen when people are passing them around,” she added.

Spiking cases involving these new methods are complex to investigate because the drugs are rapidly metabolised, leaving only a “narrow forensic window” for evidence to be collected. Police are encouraging victims to report the crime quickly.

Spiking cases are regularly linked to thefts and robberies as well as sexual offences, police said, amid warnings criminal gangs are working together using “spotters” and distraction techniques to allow them to move in when a target is most vulnerable. Suspects can often befriend a victim at a party or on a night out before taking their phone to pretend to add social media details, gaining access to it, and stealing the device or transferring out large sums of money.

“This is serious organised crime,” DI Reseigh said. “We are seeing people use this methodology in order to target people, to steal bank cards, steal mobile phones and cryptocurrency.

“It is an evolving threat, but we are doing everything in our power to tackle it.”

In the past year, more than 2,700 spiking-related offences were reported to the Met. Of these, 131 led to a charge, caution or summons, which the force said was an increase of 20 per cent on the previous year.

Police also warned spiking offences are increasingly taking place at flat parties and student accommodation as well as bars and clubs.

Last year, Chinese PhD student Zhenhao Zou, 29, received a life sentence for drugging and raping 10 women in his flat in London and in China.

“We want everyone to enjoy themselves and have a fantastic freshers’ week, but ultimately be very aware and cognizant of the threat that spiking poses,” DI Reseigh said. “It does take place in a domestic setting and it can take place within a halls of residence.”

He urged students to stay “vigilant” and report any suspicious behaviour to the police.

“You will be believed, and recently we have seen some really tough sentences where people are convicted of this kind of criminality.”