A transnational crime network specializing in drugging and sexually assaulting Chinese women has come to light, involving predominantly Chinese nationals residing in Germany. The members of this network have been targeting Chinese women and recording the criminal acts. The scale of the criminal network, the professionalism of their methods, and the numerous victims involved are all shocking.
Since January 2024, the German police have received reports of four drugging and sexual assault cases, with two occurring in Frankfurt, Hesse, and the other two in neighboring federal states.
Drugging and sexual assault refer to perpetrators using sedatives or hallucinogenic drugs to render victims unconscious, incapacitated, or even causing memory loss, before committing illegal acts of sexual assault or rape.
Initially treating the cases as individual instances of sexual assault, German authorities later discovered a high degree of similarity in the four cases, prompting the establishment of a special task force and launching a cross-regional investigation.
In September 2024, German authorities issued a rare trilingual alert in German, English, and Chinese, warning young Chinese women to beware of serial rapists.
The alert stated that the serial rapist is likely of Chinese nationality. The individual is known to use online platforms, particularly advertisements on “Xiaohongshu” or “WeChat,” to purposefully target young Chinese women. In several known cases, the perpetrator would set up meetings under the pretext of apartment viewings or overnight stays and carry out the assaults after the meetings.
Authorities advised exercising caution when receiving property viewers or buyers, recommending avoiding solitary receptions and having others present.
Through extensive evidence comparison and assistance from Chinese authorities, the German police eventually identified 43-year-old suspect Dapeng Z. and arrested him at his workplace in November 2024. Chinese media revealed that the suspect’s Chinese name is Zhang Dapeng and that he worked in IT at the renowned sports car manufacturer Lotus.
According to information from social media platforms, Zhang Dapeng claimed proficiency in German, English, and Chinese, and had studied civil engineering at Harbin Institute of Technology in China before pursuing a master’s degree in computer science and a minor in business management at the University of Tübingen in Germany.
Subsequent court documents revealed that between 2020 and 2024, Zhang Dapeng sexually assaulted eight women. His initial victims were acquaintances, including ex-girlfriends, colleagues, and neighbors, before targeting more strangers later on.
While posing as a prospective tenant viewing apartments, Zhang Dapeng would drug his victims by covering their mouths and noses with a cloth soaked in sedatives when they were not paying attention. He also spiked drinks and chocolates with drugs to deceive victims into unknowingly consuming them. Several women faced life-threatening situations due to administered high doses of drugs, with two unconscious victims having no memory of the crimes.
All of Zhang Dapeng’s victims were of Chinese nationality, without exception.
He also recorded the assaults and shared them with others in chat groups. Investigators revealed that he had been engaging in online discussions for years on how to sexually assault unconscious women, including methods of drugging victims and obtaining necessary sedatives.
During a search of his apartment, authorities discovered multiple hard drives containing 176,755 videos and images, with some content involving severe child abuse. A translator hired to organize chat logs for law enforcement became psychologically overwhelmed by the disturbing material, temporarily halting work.
Zhang Dapeng faced 22 charges, including attempted murder, aggravated rape under sedation, causing severe bodily harm, disseminating violent pornography, and trafficking drugs and pharmaceuticals, all of which he admitted to in court.
On February 6, 2026, the Frankfurt District Court sentenced Zhang Dapeng to fourteen years in prison, with subsequent preventive detention upon completion of the sentence. The presiding judge told Zhang in court, “You are a dangerous criminal, and you will only regain your freedom once you no longer pose a threat to others.”
The case of Zhang Dapeng was not isolated, as the German police, following his arrest, traced and dismantled the larger criminal network, uncovering a massive drugging and sexual assault case that shocked Germany and Europe.
According to German media reports, the criminal network operated in a hierarchical structure, with a core ‘Germany Lao Si Ji Driving School’ Telegram group consisting of eight main male operators, seven of whom were Chinese nationals active in Germany.
The group used specific coded language during conversations, referring to women as cars, attractive ones as luxury cars, partners as private cars, and anesthetics as gasoline or fuel, describing drugging women as refueling. Unconscious victims due to drug effects were labeled as “dead pigs.”
Zhang Dapeng served as the group administrator and leader, overseeing multiple related sub-groups under the ‘Germany Lao Si Ji Driving School,’ with one large group encompassing about 4,500 members.
The victims were predominantly Chinese women living in Germany, including international students, landlords looking for tenants, as well as neighbors, friends, or former partners who had regular contact with the defendants. They resided in various cities like Frankfurt, Mannheim, Nuremberg, Berlin, Munich, Göttingen, and the Netherlands.
Based on communication content and image data analysis, authorities believe there may be numerous undisclosed victims in the case. Due to the perpetrators’ use of drugs causing anterograde amnesia, some victims were unable to recall the assaults afterward, attributing related physical responses to illness or fatigue. Some victims only became aware of the assaults when investigated by the police.
Not all victims were willing to testify during the trial. While some voluntarily testified, even traveling from China for the purpose, others lacked the courage to do so. All female testimonies were conducted behind closed doors, and crime videos were only shown in private. Many traumatized women suffered mental anguish, grappling with anxiety and some attempting suicide, while others sought psychological therapy.
German media noted that the chat records and court judgments laid bare the horrifying nature of the incident, shedding light on a world where misogyny and violence coexist.
Following Zhang Dapeng’s arrest, German authorities conducted simultaneous operations in Munich, Berlin, and Hamburg to apprehend key members of the ‘Germany Lao Si Ji Driving School.’ Among the core eight, six have been arrested and exposed, with Zhang Dapeng and five others identified as Shao Zhiting, Jiang Zhongyi, Zhou Tong, Weng Sizhe, and Xu Kaiyuan.
Shao Zhiting (32 at the time of the crime) served as a crucial “technical advisor” in the criminal network. A medical master’s graduate from Beijing University, he pursued a Ph.D. at Charité – University Medicine Berlin. Investigations revealed that Shao, after joining the core group in 2024, provided instructions on drugging victims to induce memory loss in chat records, offering drug advice during Zhang Dapeng’s live sexual assault broadcasts to keep victims incapacitated. Shao is also accused of committing multiple acts of sexual assault while residing in China from 2019 to 2021.
Shao Zhiting’s case went to trial in Berlin in March this year, with a verdict expected by mid-May.
Jiang Zhongyi, 28 at the time of the crime, a robotics student at the Technical University of Munich, was sentenced to eleven years and three months in prison by the Munich District Court on April 14, 2026, for attempted murder, seven counts of aggravated rape, and producing and disseminating pornographic images. Preventive detention will follow upon completion of the sentence.
Zhou Tong, 25 at the time of the crime, a mechanical engineering student in Berlin for approximately ten years, faced a sentence of five years and nine months in prison by the Berlin District Court in August 2025.
Weng Sizhe (30 at the time of the crime) primarily residing in Los Angeles, enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Southern California, stood accused of drugging food or drinks, and engaging in assaults on at least three incapacitated women. Following leads from German authorities, U.S. law enforcement apprehended him in August 2025. Facing eight felony charges, if found guilty, Weng could be sentenced to twenty-five years to life in prison by U.S. prosecutors.
Another member involved in smuggling sedatives from China to Germany, Xu Kaiyuan (around 27 at the time of the crime), a graduate of the European University of Applied Sciences in Germany, was apprehended in Hamburg but later committed suicide out of fear.
The six mentioned criminals share common traits of high education, intelligence, education abroad, or respectable jobs in society. They were not marginalized individuals but, to some extent, considered elite members of society. Yet, their actions demonstrated that academic qualifications and intelligence are not indicative of a person’s character.
What were they seeking? Observers noted that they targeted even partners with whom they had relationships, indicating their desires were not solely based on sex. Analysts suggest that their pursuits may involve seeking a perverse pleasure in complete control over the opposite sex.
The accused Zhou Tong once wrote that he felt exceptionally excited when the victims (unconscious under sedation) resisted.
The existence of such a massive criminal network, with thousands of members operating online for four years without revealing any information, is indeed terrifying, as some netizens remarked.