Three jailed for trafficking women to brothel flats

Three people have been jailed for human trafficking and running brothels in flats in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Qin Huang, 31, Guolei Huang, 35, and Xiao Min, 38, were arrested and charged as part of Operation Fasthold, a joint Police Scotland and Home Office probe.

Women, mainly from East Asia, had been exploited as prostitutes in sex-for-sale flats between December 2018 and September 2021.

They received sentences of between four and eight years at the High Court in Glasgow.

Min was jailed for eight-and-a-half years and Qin Huang for eight years after pleading guilty to charges under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act which included the "aiding and abetting of prostitution".

Guolei Huang was sentenced to four years and three months in prison.

He had previously pleaded guilty to being involved in the management of a brothel at three of the flats.

Judge Lady Poole said they had "played an important and significant role of the operation of the criminal network operating in Scotland".

"Brothel keeping and trafficking women for prostitution involves the deliberate degrading of fellow human beings," she said.

"Prostitution is a de-humanising experience. Women often end up being deprived of the ability to act in their own interests.

"They are valued not as people, but as a potential source of profit."

Min originally entered the UK illegally and had been living in South London.

Defence counsel Thomas Ross KC said he had become involved when he fell into debt.

Qin Huang came to the UK on a student visa, was a failed asylum seeker and had been living off £140 per week benefits while owing money to people in China.

The court heard she believed women working in the brothels had "consented" to what they were doing.

But Huang's lawyer, Mark Moir KC, said she "understood" this charge was "serious".

Guolei Huang arrived in the UK in 2018 and was arrested in a brothel in Liverpool.

Iain McSporran KC, defending, said it appeared he did not see the women as "victims" and but as working "voluntarily".

Mr McSporran added Guolei Huang maintained he did not know the other two wo were in the dock with him.

In February 2020, police learned a flat in Glasgow's Dennistoun was being run as what was described as a "Chinese brothel".

Officers carried out a raid months later and found Guolei Huang with one of the trafficked women.

Three more brothels was discovered in the city's Garnethill, Dennistoun and Port Dundas areas and another one was found in Edinburgh's Old Town.

In May 2021, it was found that Qin Huang was operating from a new premises in Glasgow's Townhead and another sex-for-sale flat was discovered in Kelvinbridge.

The court heard of five women who were brought to the UK by the gang.

Two were in debt in China, another was "recruited" in a casino and one was "recommended" to travel to Scotland after working illegally in England.

A fifth woman's passport was taken from her and she was helped to "establish" herself as a prostitute.

Prosecutor Greg Farrell told the court last month that the three were part of a "sophisticated and significant criminal network who were arranging, recruiting and facilitating prostitution".

Mr Farrell added that they made "significant financial proceeds" using fake identifies to rent flats to be used as brothels.

The court heard £200,000 had been spent on adverts on an adult site by a so-called "business agency" firm but there was no evidence the three defendants financed them.

He said Qin Huang was involved in the "daily management" of the women and the flats and helped organise online adverts.

Guolei Huang was a "minder" and Min had a "supervisor" role in renting the properties.

Det Insp Mark Dines of Police Scotland said human trafficking was a "despicable crime" with "immeasurable long-term impact" on victims.

“We are committed to working with our partners to conduct thorough investigations, to identify those responsible and to protect vulnerable victims from harm," he added.

Prosecutors moved for Serious Crime Prevention Orders to be made against all three.

These are designed to tackle and monitor the activities of criminals once they are released.