27 October 2025 , 19:30
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Five members of a Romanian grooming gang have been jailed for raping and sexually exploiting vulnerable women in Scotland.
Four men and one woman denied any wrongdoing but were found guilty at a trial at the High Court in Glasgow in January.
It follows a Police Scotland investigation into sexual exploitation, human trafficking, and drug supply in Dundee.
The gang members supplied the women with alcohol and class A drugs at parties before coercing them into sexual activity.
Detective Inspector Scott Carswell told Sky News that the gang got the victims addicted to drugs to control them.
Gang leader Mircea Marian Cumpanasoiu, 38, was handed a 24-year extended sentence on Monday, with 20 years in jail and four years on licence.
Remus Stan, 35, was sentenced to 12 years in jail; Catalin Dobre, 45, was sentenced to 10 years in jail; Cristian Urlateanu, 41, was handed a 20-year extended sentence, with 18 years in jail and two years on licence; and Alexandra Bugonea, 35, was sentenced to eight years in jail.
Following the trial in January, DI Carswell said: "I’d like to thank our numerous partners for their assistance with our enquiries and their valuable support for all the victims identified throughout the investigation.
"Trafficking and exploitation is a blight on our communities and has no place in Scotland.
"We will continue to target criminals who abuse, control and exploit people, working with partners nationally and internationally to bring offenders to justice, and to raise public awareness to help identify victims and ensure they get the support they need."
"Victims are often vulnerable, they may be trapped with limited freedom or options, and sometimes they may not realise that they are in fact victims. They seldom contact police directly and quite often come to our attention either through a support agency or when someone from a local community makes a phone call and raises a concern. That call can be the first step in freeing someone from slavery and exploitation."
Politics Editor