Warning as rapists spiking vapes with dangerous zombie drugs and offering them to drinkers in packed bars
RAPISTS are using spiked vapes in a new threat to revellers, police warn.
Sex offenders have laced cartridges with drugs such as “Spice” which can leave victims incapacitated.
The Met revealed the vape danger as part of a crackdown on spiking.
With The Sun accompanying officers on patrol, a suspected rapist was arrested last Saturday near a packed bar in Soho, central London.
Police swooped on the 38-year-old four minutes after receiving reports a man had been assaulted.
Met forensic consultant Dean Ames warned: “Vapes are very much a new threat.”
He said there have been cases where e-cigs are laced with strong cannabis and Spice — a synthetic substance dubbed the “zombie drug”.
Rapists spike their own cartridges then share them with unsuspecting revellers on a night out.
Police advise against using someone else’s vape, as spiked devices cannot be visually distinguished from normal ones.
Latest figures from the Met’s anti-spiking Operation Lester reveal up to 114 offences a month.
Drink spiking in the capital has quadrupled in five years.
The Met says 60 per cent of reported victims are female and most offences occur between 6pm and 6am.
Det Chief Supt Angela Craggs urged people not to leave friends alone at a busy pub or club.
Keep them talking if a spiking is suspected, she added.
Mark McEvoy, of Novus Leisure — which owns bars including Tiger Tiger — said any illegal finds are “thrown into our drug bin”, with police called if it is a large amount.