A plastic surgeon in Ohio has been arrested on charges of drugging and raping multiple women while they were unconscious.

Dr Manish Gupta has been charged with sex trafficking, dispensing controlled substances and aggravated sexual abuse.

Two of the charges above carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. Dr Gupta waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

The 49-year-old was arrested on Friday and subsequently booked into the Lucas County Corrections Center.

Through a search warrant, authorities found controlled ketamine and diazepam, sex toys and camera equipment among his belongings at his residence and his offices.

In January 2019 authorities started investigating Dr Gupta after a woman who worked as an escort, whom he had met at a convention in September 2016, accused him of drugging her before performing sex acts on her.

The woman told the authorities that she didn't remember much after she drank a glass of wine and a home drug test showed she had tranquillizer in her system.

She did not go to the police at the time, but looked Dr Gupta up on a dating website used by other escorts and saw complaints from other women accusing him of drugging and raping them.

In 2014, one of his employees found a memory card which appeared to show him having sex with a woman who looked unconscious.

Dr Gupta runs two plastic surgery offices in the Toledo area and one in Taylor, Michigan.