Seven men, including Iranian and Syrian national boat migrants, appeared before the Bristol Magistrates Court on Wednesday, facing over 40 drug and sex offences in a grooming gang investigation into the abuse of at least 11 teenage victims in the English city.

Avon and Somerset Police said that the alleged offences, which include rape, sexual exploitation, and plying minors with hard drugs, are believed to have occurred in Bristol between 2022 and 2025. It followed an investigation sparked in November 2023 over concerns that a teenage girl was being sexually exploited.

In total, the police have identified 11 potential victims, all aged in the mid to late teens when the alleged offences took place.

The first alleged offender was identified as a Syrian national and self-identified “Arab

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