The data on assaults by chemical submission in Spain "are higher every year", due to the "increase in reports and greater awareness" that exists in our country over time. Las Palmas marked in 2023 one of the provinces most affected by crimes against sexual freedom, ranking ninth with 678 cases.
Regarding the Canary Islands as a whole, the data shows that it is the fifth most affected autonomous community by this type of crime, with 1,189 cases during the past year (report from the Ministry of the Interior on crimes against sexual freedom). The rate recorded in Las Palmas is 5.9 per 10,000 inhabitants, also placing the Canary Islands slightly above the national average with a rate of 5.4, according to the report prepared by the Ministry of the Interior.
Given the arrival of festivals and national holidays, summer becomes a favorable time for abuse and assaults. The forensic doctor and director of the legal medicine institute of Ceuta, Borja Moreno, has explained to La Voz, what exists behind chemical submission to commit a sexual assault or robbery.
According to the doctor's words, the assaults are based on sexual crimes facilitated by drugs, in which the main purpose sometimes of "putting something involuntarily" in your drink is to "have non-consensual relations with you", with euphoric or repressive substances.
Alcohol: drink used to drug
The types of drugs used by aggressors can be both relaxing and increasing sexual libido. "Some can make you want to have sex or want to sleep", he highlighted.
The famous burundanga or scopolamine is a bit of an "urban legend", the forensic scientist revealed, who also stressed that getting this type of substance is "complicated". Therefore, the cases that are related to burundanga are "relatively few", he added.
Although it seems "strange", the most common substance used to sexually assault is alcohol. This is how Moreno explained it, who stressed that these assaults arise with people who are "drunk or drugged". It can also be the case of an intermediate consequence, "taking advantage of the person being drugged or drunk and adding more substances" or the completely involuntary, by intoxicating you with something without having drunk or taken drugs previously.
"Sometimes they abuse taking advantage of you being intoxicated with alcohol or drugs and in others, they introduce more substances", he highlighted. The most common way to carry out chemical submission is when "you are consuming drinks or a beer at a party and they introduce a substance that multiplies the effect of that alcohol by a lot", the doctor revealed.
Among the most used substances are euphoric or repressive ones, among which are anxiolytics, antidepressants, ecstasy, cocaine, MDMA, among many others, to which doctors have access through a List of substances that facilitate sexual crimes, some of which may be easier to obtain. "I am not going to comment exactly which ones they are, I do not want to publicize or facilitate the obtaining of the toxins", he pointed out.
They use substances for animals
One of the substances, belonging to the euphoric and lesser known, is the one commonly highlighted as calientaburras or Yohimbine, which is used in animals as veterinary medication to make them "more sexually active". "This does not make you fall asleep, it makes your sexual desire increase", he highlighted.
The effects at a psychological level, in the case of classic substances that make you "not remember anything", you get an anterograde amnesia, in which you do not remember the moments after ingesting the drug, you have a much greater hangover for the drinks that you are aware that you have taken, gaps and they tell you that you have done strange things. The physical effects in these cases do not exist in this type of assault, "you do not have the opportunity to defend yourself" and the aggressor takes advantage of those hours to "use means so that you do not have external damage", he stressed.
"In Spain, chemical submission occurs for sexual purposes"
"In Spain, chemical submission occurs for sexual purposes", specifies the forensic doctor, a submission that can occur with known or unknown people. "The assaults are given by strangers and acquaintances, with 50% of known or relatively known people and another 50% of unknown people", he stressed. The ages of the victims range between 16 and 20 and older years, with a large peak between 18 and 22 years and their profile is usually women alone or accompanied by friends in festive environments. In the case of the aggressor's profile, they are usually people of similar ages and also from the group of friends or university, counting the cases in which they are complete strangers who assault the victim.
In addition, the places where these sexual assaults by chemical submission usually occur are in the victim's or aggressor's house, on beaches, in public roads, among other places.
"You cannot focus on the victim", is the most remarkable phrase of Borja Moreno throughout the interview. The forensic doctor explains the risks of chemically submitting a person. "You have to make people understand how dangerous it is to introduce a toxin into another person's body", he pointed out. When these crimes are committed, the victim's medical history is not known, if she is "allergic to something or it can have an adverse effect on her". "A chemical submission can end in death", he recalled.
Among the advice given by the forensic scientist is to control the activity of the person who orders the drink, not to be invited by strangers and when a person begins to feel very drunk, very intoxicated, it is essential not to move away from the group of friends, "because if I see a friend being taken away by someone he does not know, then I am going to approach to ask. Hey, why are you taking my friend, this is a protection of the group", he adds.
"You cannot focus on the victim and you should know that chemical submission can end in death"
The medical protocol that is carried out by health personnel in these cases is to perform a rapid drug test. "When someone comes in drowsy or has woken up in a place with gaps, suspicions are raised and a protocol established in each Autonomous Community is carried out", he stressed. In addition, in that case, the Court of Duty is activated to send a forensic doctor to collect samples of sexual assault at the vaginal, anal or buccal level and a blood and urine sample with which to determine the toxin and the amount of toxin. All this, in an appropriate time window, Moreno explained.
Just as it is done to detect COVID, there is the drug test, with which the substances that are in a person's body are known. "It has been done for many years with urine in the Courts to prove the consumption of a substance or in autopsies", the forensic doctor highlighted. For example, it is an exam that proves the consumption of substances by a person before dying.
'Centinela', the new bracelet to detect submission
The new bracelet called Centinela is responsible for identifying the substances that are inside a drink. A new product patented by 4 people and launched in the San Fermines of this 2024. Through the bracelet, which has been designed to detect more than 22 substances and with which by pouring a little drink into one of the sensors you can confirm the presence of toxins. If the color turns dark orange, it is indicative of the presence of drugs, including MDMA, cocaine or heroin. However, if there is no color change, the drink is safe. The device has the simple and premium model, with which the most complete also offers two test boxes, an adjustable buckle, a QR code with geolocation and quick call to 112.
Now, the method used is a kind of "sensors" with which a drop is put in the drink and it identifies the existence of some type of drug, the doctor pointed out. "I think it's something wonderful and I hope it extends to the most touristy areas of Spain", he pointed out. According to the words of the forensic doctor, the bracelet can be used in "one or two occasions, with both of the sensors", he concluded.
