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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Gerard Couzens & Benjamin Lynch

Warning for Brits as police investigate holiday hotspots hit by needle spikings

Police are investigating a string of spiking incidents through the use of needles in a popular tourist hotspot.

Majorca and Ibiza police are investigating a total of six incidents after three women say they were jabbed with a needle.

Another three made similar complaints but elected not to press charges.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard in the Balearic Islands: "We’re investigating four cases in Ibiza and two in Majorca.

"We have received three formal complaints."

A source said: "There is no evidence at this stage to indicate any of the women were drugged or allegations of theft or sexual assault after the alleged needle attacks but the investigations are ongoing."

Police are investigating a string of spiking incidents through the use of needles in the Balearic Islands (Getty Images)

Police forces around the UK recorded at least 2,436 cases of spiking between 2017 and 2021 and 839 of them came in the last year alone.

A report recently suggested creating a specific criminal offence related to spiking in the UK to tackle the problem.

In July, the UK government highlighted in the report that while there "was insufficient data to provide a clear picture of its true extent and the motives", it would remain an "invisible crime unless more was done to improve awareness and support victims".

The government said a final report on the problem would be ready for April 2023 and that it could inform the best practices for police approach in the future, but that there is "no intention to publish a specific spiking strategy."

Young women in the UK starting university this year will be warned about the dangers of being jabbed by strangers (Getty Images)

A new campaign will target first-year university students in a bid to make them aware of the dangers of spiking in nightclubs.

Ibiza and Majorca are extremely popular with British holidaymakers, so the news of the spiking will come as a concern.

Before the pandemic, Ibiza welcomed approximately 871,000 travellers from British airports between January and September 2019.

Even after restrictions eased, around one in four visitors to the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands were British travellers.

The Spanish Balearic islands are hugely popular with British tourists (JAIME REINA/AFP)

The reports are not limited to Spanish islands, the mainland has also reported problems recently and last week it was revealed authorities in Catalonia were liaising with French and British police to get their opinions on the cases after problems of their own.

Alleged cases were thought to be around five at the time, but there are now reports of 23 separate incidents.

Elsewhere in Spain, the horrifying tale of a 13-year-old girl being jabbed with liquid ecstasy at a festival in the northern Spanish city of Gijon emerged.

A girl as young as 13 was found to have been jabbed in Gijon (Getty Images)

The drug, also known as GHB, is used to sedate people and caused a numbing sensation in the girl's leg as she immediately alerted her parents standing a few yards away.

In regards to the Gijon incident, police said the investigation was ongoing but no arrest had been made. Reports say they were trying to identify a group of men around 50 years old.

Drugs used as a sedative have been reportedly injected into people (Zowy Voeten/Getty Images)

A spokesman for National Police in Asturias province in which Gijon is located, said: "We have received a complaint from a minor who alleges she was targeted by someone with a needle. She tested positive for a chemical drug."

Reports of yet another incident emerged on Tuesday involving a female French tourist in Malaga, who said she felt "disorientated" and woke up to find two prick marks on her arm.

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