Sex for Sale: Trade in human flesh moved off streets as traffickers made millions promising women new lives
Fifteen years ago much of the street prostitution which blighted Scotland had disappeared.
Women were now advertising their services online on adult websites from flats, hotels and even AirBnb.
There they could meet their clients in the relative safety of their own homes. On the surface it looked as though it was safer for the women and posed fewer problems for the police. A case of out of sight and out of mind.
But in many cases it was replaced by a far more serious problem for both the police and women - sex trafficking.
Organised crime groups were quick to see the riches to be made from selling sex on the new adult websites and controlling the women who supplied the services.
Victims were lured from their homes in Eastern Europe and Asia to Scotland with promises of a new life only to be sold as sex slaves and a life of misery in flats which had been turned into brothels.
Their services were then being advertised on the same adult websites as the new generation of women who had chosen to work there rather than on the streets. For the police one problem had been replaced with another
A number of cases in the last year have shown the horrifying extent of the problem and the millions that the ruthless gangs are making.
In May a police Proceeds of Crime investigation revealed how convicted sex trafficker Jagpal Singh, 55 - who duped Chinese women into travelling to Scotland and forcing them into prostitution - had made more than £2.6 million from the evil trade in human flesh.
He was already serving a 10 year jail term imposed in 2022 at the High Court in Glasgow. Singh, his partner Donglin Zhang,51, and Albanian Vlassis Ntaoulias,35, had set up a network of brothels across the city.
A fourth Thai citizen Boonsong Wannas, 62, helped them bring women from Asia who were then were forced to provide sex services. Their business was abruptly ended after police visited one of their seven brothel premises and found a distressed Chinese woman inside who revealed she'd been forced to sell her body.
Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!
Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.
You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.
All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in!
If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like.
To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Last October in a separate Proceeds of Crime case, a Chinese crime gang that trafficked vulnerable women and forced them to work in brothels in Glasgow and Edinburgh were found to have made almost £5million from their misery. Xiao Min, 39, Qin Huang, 31, and Guolei Huang, 35, were captured as part of Operation Fasthold, a joint Police Scotland and Home Office investigation and jailed for a total of 20 years and nine months in June last year.
At the time Detective Chief Inspector Iain Nelson of Police Scotland said: "We estimated that somewhere between £3.5million and £5million of revenue was being taken from their activities. That gave us an impression of the scale at which they were operating.'
Qin's role was the daily management of the trafficked women, who were mostly from east Asia, and overseeing the advertising of sexual services on adult websites. She was sentenced to eight years in prison. Guolei, who was jailed for four years and three months, was a "minder" who escorted and managed the women while they acted as prostitutes.
Xiao, who was described as the "mastermind" of the operation, was sentenced to eight years and nine months behind bars. His role was to supervise the renting of several properties in Glasgow and Edinburgh for use as brothels and provide false papers to landlords to hide the fact that the women were being trafficked.
Another case of sex workers being exploited online involved Thai brothel madam Mananchaya Wanitthanawet who operated brothels from AirBnb. The 44 year-old trafficked women from Thailand to Scotland to become prostitutes and was jailed for nine years in November at the High Court in Dundee.
Victims were lured to Scotland under false pretences. One of the women was promised work as a masseuse but was put up in a flat in Dundee and had to offer sex to clients. Initially she was told to pay £35,000 to Wanitthanawet for helping her come to the UK in 2019 but that was then increased to £90,000. Wanitthanawet was convicted of recruiting and transporting the women and forcing them into prostitution over a three year period.
Karen Miller of anti-trafficking charity Restore Glasgow believes that the vast majority of sex workers who now advertise online are victims of abuse and exploitation in one form or another and may be no better off than those who used to work as street prostitutes.
She said:"It is nothing like the movie Pretty Woman. "Many of these women are lured into prostitution by the sex traffickers with the promise of romance, a home, or a better life. "They are innocents, then they find out what is expected of them.
"There is also straight up violence. "I have heard of women being forcibly taken of the street - in Albania - before being sent abroad. "There is also the promise of fake jobs such as hairdressing and au pairs. "Once they are out the country there is no way back."
Karen believes few if any women ever go into sex work through choice. She added:"I have never actually met one. I couldn't say they don't exist. "I think they are like the unicorn. Hard to find.
"If you bring the women in from abroad they are easier to exploit and they don't know the language or where they are. "I have met women who have been trafficked in the sex industry and it is only when they have escaped that they have found out what city they are in and in some cases the country."
Karen is not convinced that moving online from the streets has made sex worker 's lives better. She added:"The immediate situation might be better in terms of being cleaner and warmer and possibly less violence.
"It just means it is much harder for them to get help as no one know where they are."
ENDS
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
an hour ago
- Daily Record
Scotland's Godfathers: Real story behind Ice Cream wars horror flat fire that killed six trapped inside
In 1984, six members of the Doyle family were killed in a petrol-bomb attack on their Glasgow flat, a tragedy at the heart of the notorious 'Ice Cream Wars. In the 1980s, Scotland's crime scene was marked by audacious attacks, with the shootings and car bombings of rival gangsters a constant threat. But the most shocking was an arson attack in which a family of six perished in their own home. Glasgow street photographer Brian Anderson lived in the same area – and the tragedy was the beginning of his life-long involvement in documenting the city's underworld. On April 16, 1984, the front door of a flat on Bankhead Street, Ruchazie, had been doused with petrol and set alight. James Doyle, 53, sons James Jnr, 23, Andrew, 18, Anthony, 14, and daughter Christina Halleron, 25, plus her 18-month-old son, Mark, all perished. The attack had come at the height of a petty turf war which became known as the ' Ice Cream Wars'. As the police investigated, outlandish claims were made including that ice cream vans had been a front for drug dealing and stolen goods. Public outrage followed, and Strathclyde Police, who were derided as the 'Serious Chimes Squad' for botching the case, arrested several suspects. Thomas 'TC' Campbell, who died aged 66 in 2019, and Joe Steele, 62, were tried for the murders and convicted. Campbell, who was considered the ringleader in carrying out the fire at the Doyles' flat, claimed he had been 'fitted up' by the police. His enforcer, Steele, also protested his innocence. The pair served 18 years and were freed in 2004, their convictions quashed. The murders of the Doyles remain officially unsolved, but crime photographer Anderson has his own theories about that fateful night. As a child, he heard the dreadful screams of those trapped in the Doyle household as the fire took hold. He went on to snap Campbell and Steele and many more notorious criminals, giving him insider knowledge. He said: 'There had been an attack on one of the Doyles' ice cream vans a nd the tyres were slashed. But they had spare tyres in the van and were back on the road in no time. 'I was informed that the Doyles also kept tyres in a lock-up adjacent to the front door of their flat and that it was that door which was set on fire because the attackers wanted to torch the stock of tyres. It spread to the door of the main flat and the Doyles, trapped inside, died as a result.' Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Anderson says the information came from a very good underworld source. He also doesn't buy the narrative that ice cream vans were a front for the drug trade. Anderson said: 'There is no actual evidence of that. I was a kid in the area and we never saw anything like that. 'If it had been going on, the parents would have stopped the kids from going to the vans. 'I think that's just a story the police came up with. The ice cream van trade was lucrative enough on its own selling confectionery and cigarettes without having to bring drugs into play.' One man who cast a shadow during the Ice Cream Wars was Tam McGraw, dubbed 'The Licensee'. McGraw was never convicted in connection to the Doyle murders though throughout the probe claims and counter-claims were made over whether he had ordered it. Born in 1952, he had built a criminal empire across Glasgow in the 1980s, running pubs, taxi firms, security businesses and ice‑cream vans which provided a perfect way to launder cash. Another suspect was Gary Moore. Once described as the most violent gangster in Glasgow, he had been an enforcer for the Glasgow godfather of crime, Arthur Thompson Sr. In the Ice Cream Wars saga, McGraw loomed large as a silent puppet‑master. Campbell faded into the legal system, and Steele remained vocal, claiming he knew more than he could reveal. Heroin had flooded into Scotland in the 1980s, much of it from Afghanistan after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. So addictive was the drug that Edinburgh's crime rate soared, with burglaries and robberies and women turning to prostitution to feed their habit. The Ice Cream Wars illustrated how organised crime had become intertwined with communities and, as the decade came to a close, many of these networks appeared to be on the wane, but their scars remained. And Scotland's illegal drugs trade was just getting started.
Daily Record
11 hours ago
- Daily Record
Man's body pulled from River Tay after search for male who 'dove in with pals'
Police Scotland have confirmed that a man's body has been pulled from the River Tay. The body of a man has been pulled from the River Tay following searches for male who "dived in with his pals" vanished in Perth last night. Emergency crews raced to the banks of the river in the city centre and began searching after receiving a report of three adult males getting into difficulty in the water at around 7.45pm. Police Scotland have now confirmed that the body of a man has been recovered following searches in the water in the Moncreiffe Island area of Perth. Emergency services remain in attendance at the scene and enquiries are ongoing to establish the identity of the male. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you. We're also on Facebook - your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day from the Daily Record, Sunday Mail and Record Online
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Albanian migrant, 20, who came to the UK illegally and sold drugs to send money back home to his disabled father is jailed
An Albanian migrant who came to the UK illegally and sold drugs to send money back home to his disabled father has been jailed for two years. Rei Hajdaraj, 20, was found by police with twelve snap-bags of cocaine in his car on St Alphonsus Road in Lambeth on 8 June 2025. He was also discovered to be in possession of a fake Romanian driving licence and £400 in cash from prior drug deals. The court heard that university-educated Hajdaraj came to England illegally with the intention of finding construction work and sending money home to his disabled father. But the Albanian soon fell in with an organised criminal network of drug dealers. He was remanded in custody on 9 June after pleading guilty at Croydon Magistrates Court to dealing and possessing cocaine, and possessing a false identity document. Wearing a green t-shirt, he was produced at Inner London Crown Court today for sentencing. Prosecutor Gregor McKinley said: 'The circumstances of all three offences arose in the early hours of 8 June. 'There was body-worn footage from roundabout midnight, just after the early hours, and the defendant was seen in a vehicle which was stopped and searched by police. 'He was asked about his identity and he had with him a Romanian driving licence. 'He maintained that identity with the police, and while the police were talking to him, they noticed other people coming up to the vehicle having made a prior arrangement to purchase cocaine. 'In the door of the vehicle they found twelve snap-bags of cocaine that haven't been weighed but are street-deal size. 'He also had a small tin box, which police say is often used for secretly hiding drugs on the outside of the vehicle. 'They also found £400 in money.' Jeffrey Shine, defending, said his client was previously a student at the University of Tirana in Albania before dropping out to work in construction. 'He came to England solely for the purpose of trying to earn some money - he did come here illegally in a lorry, he admits that. 'Because of his illegal status I'm afraid what has happened is he got involved with people he shouldn't have got involved with', he said. Judge David Richards told Hajdaraj: 'On the 8 June you were caught about to deal some drugs on St Alphonsus Road in SW4. 'You had twelve bags of cocaine on you with a device for hiding that cocaine from the police, you had £400 cash on you - the product of similar activity and a false identity document. 'You came into this country illegally - I don't increase your sentence because of that because I'm quite sure you felt and had been told you could work here no matter how you got here. 'You are an educated man, it was your intention perhaps initially to make money here honestly, albeit on the black economy. 'That didn't work out and so you chose to make money through crime. 'You wouldn't have made £400 a day or anything like that - you were making some money at the direction of other men from similar circumstances who were running a criminal enterprise. 'You were used, to an extent, as part of that enterprise. 'These drug-dealing networks only operate if there are people willing to go out on the streets to deal the drugs. 'To an extent, you took advantage of the lack of regulation and oversight in our liberal country.' Hajdaraj was handed 20 months for being concerned in the supply of cocaine and four months for possession of an false identity document, to run consecutively. The judge told him the two year sentence was eligible for suspension. But he added: 'The fact you were illegally, a guest in this country - albeit the authorities didn't know you were here - the fact that this was part of an organised network, albeit playing a small role, I really have no doubt this is too serious to be suspended.' The 20-year-old will serve 40 per cent of his sentence in prison before he is due for release. 'Whether the Home Office choose to deport you back to Albania after your release is a matter for the Home Office, I do not have any say in that', the judge told him. 'You can go down'. Hajdaraj, address unknown, admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine, possession of cocaine and possessing a false identity document.
