The subject of human trafficking has been fraught on social media, where content about legitimate cases of human trafficking are just as common as fear-mongering tactics used to drive up views.
From using tissues to mark one’s own car so that other potential traffickers think the poster is “spoken for,” to urging viewers to look for zip ties on their cars, another “sign” of being marked for human trafficking, much content has been made about potential human trafficking in the U.S. with little to back it up.
Folks have also dedicated time to debunking some of the public’s ideas about human trafficking, such as the idea that human traffickers will leave money or other items on their windshield to delay their entry into their vehicle.
Now, a woman says she suspects bartenders in the Los Angeles area of spiking drinks with the goal of participating in a human trafficking-esque operation, after witnessing a man become overtly intoxicated after two glasses of wine.
In a video posted to TikTok, user @c****chanel says she attended a daytime party where she met a man that she ended up leaving the party to share a meal with. As time passes, she says he begins to appear so intoxicated that she required help to get him into an Uber home, all off of a couple glasses of wine. No liquor was served at this party, she says.
“He’s a big guy, clearly knows how to drink, so it was very unusual,” she says in the video. “Then it progressively got worse really quickly. We ended up outside, I was just trying to get guys to help him in the Uber because literally we needed several people to get him in an Uber, because he was so out of it, throwing up, like the whole thing.”
She says the next day when she checked in on him, he says he was suspicious of the last drink he had at the party, as it was given to him by a female friend. She elaborates, saying that he believed the drink was spiked and intended for her, because she ordered it.
“I start asking him more questions and he tells me that he’s a lawyer and he just represented three girls in L.A. in their lawsuits against a very popular bar,” she says. “They literally recovered security footage where it was very very apparent what these bartenders were doing, and that they were using separate bottles to drug these girls.”
She says he told her that bartenders at these establishments were communicating with each other to target these women, and that they never had to talk to the bartenders themselves.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @c****chanel via TikTok direct message regarding the video.
In the last few years, several women have accused bartenders of potentially spiking their drinks. Two Dallas women have sued a bar in the Deep Ellum area, alleging that they were drugged by a bartender there in November. A Canadian woman has made similar allegations about a bar in Winnipeg, where she says she suspects a bartender spiked her beverage in October.
Several viewers shared that they believe they have been similarly targeted at bars, although it is unclear whether they thought it was specifically through a bartender.
“This happened to one of my friends at a really nice brunch spot in Newport Beach,” one commenter wrote. “It’s not only nighttime ladies.”
@cuntychanel #psa #stitch @Your Bestie ❤️ thank you for bringing awareness to this you’re a badass #la #forthegirls #girls ♬ original sound – Anna Bash
“This happened to me and my friend in Hartford ct we were beyond lucky one of my hometown friends randomly saw me & knew right away got me my friend and brought us home thankfully,” another commenter wrote.
“This happened to me in Dallas almost 20 years ago,” a commenter wrote. “Thankful for my friends who screamed them off and got me home safe.”