A prolific people smuggler known as “Freya the Ice Queen” has been jailed alongside three accomplices after 24 Thai women were trafficked to Britain and forced into prostitution.
Achareeya Spurr, who used the name Freya, worked with Chin Ping, Ugur Sahin and Sarunyoo Siriwan in an organised operation connected to 26 brothels across London and Kent.
The criminal network was exposed when police raided a number of the premises and discovered Thai women who said they had been coerced into selling sex.
Several victims told detectives that their passports had been seized by a woman they knew as “Freya” or “Freya Ice Queen”, leaving them vulnerable and under the gang’s control.
At least some of the women were brought into Britain hidden in lorries travelling across the English Channel from the Netherlands.
Spurr, 49, admitted conspiracy to commit human trafficking, conspiracy to control prostitution for gain and handling criminal property. Ping, 56, Sahin, 27, and Siriwan, 31, were found guilty of the same offences following a seven-week trial.
The three men were also convicted of helping a non-UK national breach British immigration law.
Together, the four defendants received prison sentences totalling 23 years. Spurr was sentenced to more than seven years in custody.
Woolwich Crown Court heard that the gang recruited Thai women and arranged their journeys to the UK, frequently using the promise of lawful visitor visas to conceal their true intentions.
Achareeya Spurr, known as “Freya the Ice Queen”, trafficked dozens of Thai women into the UK with the help of her criminal associates
Metropolitan Police detectives uncovered TikTok videos containing references to “Freya” during their investigation
Chin Ping was part of the gang accused of forcing women into prostitution and taking away their passports
Sarunyoo Siriwan received a four-year and four-month prison sentence after the Woolwich Crown Court trial
After arriving in Britain, the women were sent to brothels and pressured into having sex with customers to repay supposed travel and recruitment debts. In many cases, those debts grew to tens of thousands of pounds.
The gang usually held on to the victims’ passports, a tactic that restricted their freedom and left them isolated, dependent and easier to control.
Investigators established that at least one woman had been concealed in the back of a vehicle during the journey from the Netherlands across the English Channel.
In October last year, officers from the Metropolitan Police’s modern slavery and child exploitation team searched seven properties. They recovered £57,145 in cash, a money-counting machine, designer watches and handbags, mobile phones, SIM cards, bank cards and the passports of three victims.
Police connected the group to 26 brothels and identified 24 women who were believed to have been exploited after arriving in the UK during the previous year.
Detective Constable Kathryn Horne, from the Metropolitan Police, said: “This was a sophisticated criminal enterprise that targeted women for profit and reduced them to commodities that could be bought, controlled and exploited.”
“The defendants made money from the suffering of women who had travelled thousands of miles to the UK, only to become trapped in a cycle of debt, coercion and sexual exploitation.”
‘I would like to thank the victims for their courage throughout this investigation. Their accounts were crucial in bringing those responsible to justice.’
Ugur Sahin was the fourth convicted member of the gang, which was linked to 26 brothels across London and Kent
During searches of addresses linked to the gang police found stashes of designer watches
Officers also found wads of cash and passports belonging to the victims
Debi Lloyd, head of UK counter-trafficking operations at the victim support group Justice & Care, said: ‘First and foremost, this result is about the incredible courage of the victims who have come forward to share their story and engaged with a criminal justice process. After experiencing such significant trauma, this takes enormous strength.
‘This case also shows what is possible when agencies work together around the individual, combining a determined law enforcement response with consistent, specialist support. No court result can undo the harm someone has experienced, and we know that recovery is rarely a straight line.
‘But victims deserve to be heard, believed and supported to make their own choices, while those responsible for serious abuse and exploitation are held to account.
‘I am incredibly proud of the partnership working that helped make this result possible, and above all, I want to recognise the bravery of the victims at the heart of this case.’
Spurr was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison, while Ping was jailed for six years and nine months, Siriwan for four years and four months and Sahin for four years.
