Several Chinese men living in Germany have formed a group called the “Perversion Gang” on the social media platform Telegram, carrying out acts of drugging, sexual assault, voyeurism, and live streaming against women around them and strangers in a long-term and systematic manner. The severity of the crimes has shocked even experienced detectives. After years of investigation by the police, the perpetrators have been arrested one after another, and recent attention has been focused on the interrogation and sentencing of the core members.
The Telegram group is named “Germany Driving School for Veteran Drivers,” with around 8 core members. They use coded language to communicate about drug use and methods of perversion, even sharing voyeuristic videos or live streaming their criminal activities. Currently, three members have been sentenced by German courts to prison terms ranging from 5 years and 9 months to 14 years. One member committed suicide, another is still on trial in Berlin, one is facing charges from the Los Angeles prosecutors in the United States, and information on two other members has not been made public.
The case involves issues such as perversion, sexual assault, women’s safety, systematic crimes, overseas Chinese, and the student community, sparking high attention and extensive discussions. The high education levels and so-called “elite status” of the criminals have also stirred controversy.
According to court judgments and media reports in Germany, the 8 core members of the criminal gang established over 20 chat groups through the encrypted messaging app Telegram, with the largest group having as many as 2316 members, and the total members of related derivative groups allegedly reaching up to 50,000 at one point. These groups were active since at least 2020 and were only fully exposed by the police in 2024. They initially targeted acquaintances and later expanded to random women.
To evade supervision, group members used a strict “car code” system: “driving school” referred to the criminal network for sharing perversion experiences, “driving” indicated the acts of drugging and rape, and “fuel” referred to various prescription sedatives and tranquilizers.
The term “car” referred to the female victims. Among them, victims with intimate relationships or acquaintances were called “private cars”; unfamiliar women were called “wild cars”; and victims with outstanding looks were called “luxury cars.” The term “dead pig” was used by group members to refer to drugged and unconscious female victims.
In this so-called “driving school,” group members shamelessly boasted about their rape of unconscious women, shared photos and videos taken on the scene, and even conducted criminal live streams, exchanging tips on drugging methods and selecting “targets.” The “driving school” not only had a “head coach” (group administrator) but also a “medical consultant” specializing in instructing drugging methods and dosages. Their “elite status” and despicable methods created a stark contrast:
– “Head Coach” Zhang Dapeng (43 years old): The key perpetrator of the network and group administrator, was an IT manager at a German car company before the crimes. He exhibited extreme narcissistic traits, believing he was above the law and police. He joined 25 related groups since 2020, beginning drugging acquaintances and colleagues in 2021. In 2024, he even impersonated women on “Xiaohongshu” and “WeChat” or pretended to be a tenant to drug and rape random women. He was arrested in Frankfurt in 2024 and sentenced to 14 years in prison in February this year.
– “Medical Consultant” Zhiting S. (32 years old): A Chinese doctor sentenced in Berlin. The court confirmed that he acted as a “technical guide” in the group, providing precise drugging and dosage advice to other members. Additionally, video evidence showed that he participated in drugging and sexually assaulting his then-fiancée three times in a Beijing hotel from 2020 to 2021. Ultimately, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison for aiding serious rape, causing bodily harm, and sexual offenses.
– Student Tong Z. (25 years old): From Chengdu, Sichuan Province, studying mechanical engineering in Berlin at the time of the crimes. He mainly engaged in voyeurism and sexual assault against former girlfriends, neighbors, and acquaintances, displaying a strong misogynistic tendency. Tong Z. once said in the group, “Online data shows that 80% of women do not speak out after being raped.” This attitude of believing victims won’t report the crime led him to repeatedly commit crimes without fear.
– Master’s student Jiang Zhongyi: Arrested in December 2024 when he was a robotics master’s student at the Technical University of Munich. He drugged and raped his neighbor at least seven times. Due to using excessive doses of tranquilizers, he seriously impaired the critical physiological functions of the victims, leading to charges of attempted murder against both him and Zhang Dapeng.
Furthermore, the Hamburg prosecutor’s office confirmed that another Chinese suspect X. committed suicide in December 2024, and the investigation against him has been terminated. Information on three other core members has not been extensively disclosed, indicating they may still be under investigation, with two of them reportedly residing in the United States and the Netherlands.
Drugging and sexual assault were the core modus operandi of the criminal network. Ringleader Zhang Dapeng began ordering prescription drugs online in autumn 2020 and selling them to other members. To deeply incapacitate victims, they often used a mix of powerful sedatives and anesthetics, referred to as the “perversion trio” in their coded language.
Chief Judge Markus Koppenleitner in Munich emphasized during the trial that the doses of drugs used by the defendants were extremely dangerous and could be fatal. The fortunate survival of the victims was purely accidental.
These drugs not only induced deep unconsciousness in the victims but also caused severe anterograde amnesia. In one case, a female victim briefly woke up after being drugged by Zhang Dapeng and conversed with him for half an hour while he was naked, but the next day had no memory of the incident.
Due to the strong side effects of the drugs, most victims were unaware of their experiences at the time of the crime and even for a long period afterward. It was only when the German police arrested the suspects, seized their electronic devices, and found a large number of crime recordings that they actively contacted and informed these women.
Upon discovering the truth, many victims suffered significant mental distress and severe psychological trauma, exhibiting inexplicable crying, insomnia, inability to concentrate, and even recurring suicidal thoughts, living in fear of whether their humiliating videos had been circulated online.
The breakthrough in solving the case began with the brave reports of four Chinese women, after which the German police uncommonly issued announcements in German, English, and Chinese, warning young Chinese women to guard against a Chinese serial rapist. With the arrests of Zhang Dapeng and others, the police unraveled the global criminal network by dissecting electronic devices.
This case swiftly triggered cross-border law enforcement actions. Following leads provided by the German police, the Los Angeles police have charged a Chinese student studying abroad with drug-facilitated sexual assaults. The suspect drugged and assaulted three women in Los Angeles, with the drugs originating from the German criminal network.
Last month, the Dutch police, based on joint notifications from Germany and England, arrested four men suspected of disseminating abusive videos and discussing drugging techniques in social group chats.
The European Police Office (Europol), in cooperation with the German and British police, officially launched the “Project Medusa” international joint operation to crack down on these types of cross-border online networks promoting drug-facilitated sexual assaults, leading to the arrest of 57 suspects globally.
This case inevitably brings to mind the infamous case of Gisèle Pelicot, who was subjected to long-term drugging and sexual assaults by her ex-husband and dozens of strangers. Judge Koppenleitner in Munich remarked, “This is not merely a Chinese or French phenomenon; it exists in Germany and around the world.”
The “Germany Driving School for Veteran Drivers” case has aroused immense anger within the Chinese community. In China, even though related discussions face some level of censorship and deletion on platforms like Xiaohongshu, netizens still remind and condemn the crimes using implicit terms such as “overseas students” and “date rape.”
Locally in Germany, numerous Chinese women have voluntarily attended courts in Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, etc., to observe the trials. While certain court proceedings are not open to the public due to privacy laws, the Chinese community insists on showing support for the victims by physically being present in courtrooms.
A Chinese resident in Germany revealed that she attended all three trials of the Chinese doctor Zhiting S., and on the day of the judgment, dozens of Chinese were present. When Zhiting S. was sentenced to 5 years, he continuously shook his head, appearing somewhat dejected, but many Chinese present believed that the sentence was “too light.”
The court explained in the judgment that considering the extensive media coverage of the case in China and the defendant’s public recognition, leading to severe personal moral judgment and career destruction, this was taken into account as a partial reduction in sentencing.
Currently, the lawyers for Zhiting S. and Zhang Dapeng have stated their intentions to appeal. The German police have stated that the investigation into the network’s case is still ongoing, not ruling out the possibility of discovering more victims and arresting more suspects in the future.