The mysterious needle attacks in Spain

It is an underlying fear among many visitors to parties and clubs, especially among women: someone unnoticed will administer a drug, for example in a drink.
This uncertainty is now increased by numerous reports from Spain that women are being stung by unknown people at parties and clubs, who then often feel unwell a short time later. However, in the vast majority of cases, toxic substances can no longer be detected. So what's behind it?

Stings by unknown people

One of the most recent reports of needle attacks involves two women who were stabbed by someone in a club in Spain (see HERE ). A young woman named Vicky says that she was approached by a Frenchman. During the conversation, she saw that he was holding a needle facedown in his hand, and a scuffle ensued.

The second woman, Nicole, said she didn't notice the sting at first, but half an hour later, while waiting for a taxi, she felt dizzy and her arm was numb. There are said to have been five other cases of needle attacks at the hospital where she went.

Although the cases were reported to the police, nothing much seemed to have happened in these cases: According to Vicky, the police officers explained to her that discos usually always have some excuse for not releasing images from surveillance cameras.

Police in Spain now have over 50 cases of women being stuck with needles in clubs or parties, a strange trend that began in Scotland in October 2021. But there is a big mystery:

So far only one case of poisoning has been reported

Catalonia and the Basque Country are the regions where the most cases have been reported so far, and the complaints are well known: young women who feel a pang or sharp pain, then dizzy, while dancing or waiting at the bar in a cramped environment and feel disoriented and have a puncture mark on the body.

But no matter how many reports about it are piling up, one detail is still missing: Why?
As worrying as the attacks are, it should be noted that scientists have only identified a single case in Spain (in the northern region of Asturias) in which a toxic substance was found in the victim's body.

Because the victim was a minor, it is unclear whether they were in a bar or nightclub at the time. The 13-year-old girl reported a stabbing pain in her leg and later tested positive for ecstasy at Cabueñes Hospital.

Social panic?

However, the case mentioned above is rather the exception, as all tests for toxic chemical substances come to nothing :

• As of January 2022, there have already been 1,300 complaints of needle sticks in the UK. Of these, zero cases with chemical traces were confirmed.
• In France, in about 800 reported cases of needlestick injuries, not a single chemical trace was found in any of the victims.
• According to the police, no traces of toxic substances were found during the medical analysis of the Spanish victims, apart from the one case in Dijon.

In not a single case were the perpetrators identified and no needles were ever found in the clubs - so the murder weapon was missing in all cases. Also, no one was a victim of sexual assault, harassment or theft following a needle attack.

Apparently there are also false reports. On August 3rd, several women were said to have fallen victim to needle attacks during a concert, which was circulated in Spain as WhatsApp messages and on Twitter, but the local emergency service did not receive a single report of it .
However, the Galician Health Service stated that three people were treated on the evening of the concert and one of them had a needle stick, although no drugs or other substances were detected.

What do experts say?

But the fact is that needle sticks were found in victims, but only in a single case was there also a drug. Not all of the victims of the needle attacks could have imagined that they were feeling dizzy or sick. So what could that be?

The Spanish site VerificaRTVE interviewed some experts on the topic:

Bernardo Herradón , researcher at the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the CSIC, explains that there must be a significant amount of a drug in an injection for a chemical submission to occur. “ I don’t think the victim didn’t notice ,” he explains.

José Antonio López Guerrero , science popular scientist and head of the science culture department at the Severo Ochoa Center for Molecular Biology, agrees: " A stabbing could have an effect, but the perpetrator would have to be aware of the victim and follow him, it is not something immediate " .

David Callejo , resident anesthesiologist at Gregorio Marañón Hospital, explains that “ they are very fine needles that you may not even notice .” “ But ,” he adds, “ as soon as we inoculate a drug, it would become noticeable because it is a sting, similar to a wasp or bee sting .”

According to Mireia Ventura , Energy Control's head of analytical services, a chemical submission "would require 20 seconds of injection, and we know that's not the case. “I don’t know of any substance that can be administered in this short time and have the desired effect .”

José Antonio Lorente , professor of forensic medicine at the University of Granada, has a different opinion about the duration of the puncture. He explained that the duration of the puncture was " one or two seconds " and emphasized that " when the substance enters the body, you feel it and it hurts ."

Dr. Rosa Izquierdo , anesthesiologist at La Fe Hospital, emphasizes that " many needle sticks do not produce symptoms of intoxication, but rather nervous states, the signs of which are more consistent with anxiety crises ."

However, experts agree that the greatest danger is that diseases can be transmitted if several people are pricked with the same needle, for example HIV or hepatitis.

Short-lived drugs?

Despite the objections, it cannot be denied that many victims of needle attacks felt sleepy or dizzy. So the question is what substances might have been in the injections, for which only small amounts are sufficient and which cannot be easily detected because, for example, they are quickly broken down by the body.

The experts mentioned above can narrow this down to three substances: liquid ecstasy, benzodiazepine and ketamine.
In small quantities, these substances can cause a state of dizziness and sleepiness, which is particularly exacerbated when combined with alcohol.

Most of the victims' descriptions apply to liquid ecstasy: the effect occurs after just 10 to 20 minutes and lasts between 30 and 60 minutes. Among other things, mental confusion, disinhibition, hallucinations and dizziness can occur, and sometimes even memory loss.

All three suspected substances are also difficult to detect in the body: Liquid Ecstasy is very difficult to detect after just four to five hours, and not at all after 12 hours. The half-life of benzodiazepines and ketamine can be several hours, but it is often difficult to detect during examinations.

In addition, if the injection is done intramuscularly, the effect of these substances can be even less than if they were drunk or injected into the blood, which would have a much faster effect, according to anesthesiologist David Callejo.

Conclusion

The reports of needle attacks in clubs or at parties are not imaginary, but there are also cases of false reports and scaremongering, which is rather counterproductive.

However, if you are stuck with a needle while on vacation in Spain or another European country, you should immediately (!) see a doctor or go to the hospital and be checked for drugs such as liquid ecstasy, benzodiazepines and ketamine, as this are the most likely drugs to be administered, according to experts.

Correction August 11, 2022:
In the previous version of the article, liquid ecstasy was written as a literal translation of liquid ecstasy.
Dr.

med. Jürgen Hinrichs pointed out to us that this is not the same. “Liquid Ecstasy” is not liquid ecstasy (MDMA, i.e. methylenedioxymethylamphetamine and sometimes similar amphetamine derivatives, thus a stimulant), but rather gammahydroxybutyric acid, a substance that has a GABAergic effect in the brain similar to benzodiazepines, i.e. in low sedation has a disinhibiting and anti-anxiety effect, but in higher doses acts as a knockout drop. So Ecstasy makes you awake, Liquid Ecstasy does the opposite. Thanks for the hint!

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