2 arrested for running Tel Aviv date rape drug distribution ring

Two Tel Aviv men were arrested on Saturday for possession and distribution of a date rape drug, police said in a statement.

Raids of two separate Tel Aviv apartments uncovered dozens of bottles believed to contain the illicit substance GHB and other illegal drugs, police said, adding that the suspects intended to distribute the incapacitating agent to clubs and bars across the city.

The arrests come the day before the Purim holiday, when bars, pubs and clubs are usually packed with festive revelers.

The two men were said to be in their 20s. One of the suspects is reportedly a Palestinian from the West Bank city of Nablus.

Last year, the case of a Tel Aviv man convicted of using the date rape drug GHB to assault nearly a dozen women sparked outrage among women’s rights groups in Israel.

At least 11 women had filed sexual assault claims against Yaniv Nahman, similarly describing meeting the investment manager at a club, then waking up in his bed the next morning without any recollection of how they got there.

Under the terms of a plea bargain, Nahman admitted to one count of rape, and in December 2015, he was sentenced to 6 months of community service instead of the mandatory 4-6 years jail sentence.

The Tel Aviv District Court explained the unusually light punishment was in part because Nahman did not use excessive force in his assaults against his victims.

The lenient sentence sparked outrage from the victims and women’s groups who said the court fundamentally misinterpreted the law, and the severity of rape and sexual assault.