Twelve suspects have been arrested in France following 145 people across the country claiming they’d been pricked with syringes during a nationwide music festival over the weekend, according to several reports published Monday.
The alleged stabbings occurred during France’s Fête de la Musique, an annual festival that takes place across the country every June 21. Per the New York Times, 13 of the reported cases came out of Paris. A representative for France’s Interior Ministry told CNN that “toxicology tests are being done,” to see if any of the victims had been injected with drugs or any substances.
“The ministry is taking this very seriously,” a spokeswoman for the interior ministry told the outlet.
It isn’t clear how many, if any, of the victims who reported the stabbings had been injected with any substances, and it likely won’t be clear until the toxicology reports come back. CNN cited a local report from its french affiliate BFMTV that three people in Paris had reported getting pricked with syringes at different areas around the city Saturday and that all three said they felt unwell afterward.
The Guardian reported that among the suspects were four people in Angoulême who are suspected of targeting 50 people.
Fears around so-called “needle spiking” have grown in Europe in recent years, with several outlets including the Times and Washington Post reporting about the issue at bars and night clubs. Rumors about drugging with needles began to swirl following the deadly Astroworld Festival crowd rush back in 2021, though those reports would subsequently prove to be unfounded.
