Four people convicted of trafficking offences at the High Court in Glasgow
Four people have been convicted of trafficking offences at the High Court in Glasgow.
Two men, Jagpal Singh (52), Vlassis Ntaoulias (33) and two women Boonsong Wannas (62) and Donglin Zhang (48) were convicted at the High Court in Glasgow of Human Trafficking and Brothel keeping offences. All four accused have been remanded in custody and will appear for sentencing next month.
Their convictions mark the end of an operation by Greater Glasgow Human Trafficking Unit in partnership with CFI Home Office to detect offenders involved in Human Trafficking and Exploitation, which started in September 2019.
On Thursday, 13 February 2020, a large scale multi-agency operation was carried out and a number of search warrants were executed.
Detective Superintendent Donna Duffy, in charge of Glasgow’s Human Trafficking Unit said: “Human trafficking is a despicable crime that has an unmeasurable long term impact on its victims.
“We are committed to working with our partners to conduct thorough investigations, to identify those responsible and to protect their vulnerable victims from harm and these convictions demonstrate that.
“We will continue in our efforts to tackle Human trafficking within the city and information from local people within our communities is key to helping us to identify those involved. As such I ask that anyone with any information or who has concerns about the welfare of someone they suspect has been trafficked to contact us on 101.”
A Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA) spokeswoman said: “This verdict sends out a strong message to other ruthless criminals intent on abusing vulnerable women that they will not get away with it – they will end up behind bars.
“TARA has been supporting two of the victims, both emotionally and practically. They have both suffered horrendous ordeals - being exploited over several years, at the hands of the traffickers and also by the men who paid to have sex with them in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK. This exploitation is often perpetuated by those who choose to look the other way, fail to live up to their responsibilities or, worse, become actively complicit.
“Human trafficking for sexual exploitation is a despicable crime which, by its very nature, takes away a person’s right to consent and the details of this case are truly harrowing. We are pleased that the long-term, intensive support provided by our team, working in close partnership with officers from Police Scotland, has enabled these brave women to obtain justice for the horrors they have endured.”
