Hungarian gang that sexually exploited hundreds of women jailed in Britain

LONDON – A British judge has sentenced a Hungarian gang believed to have sexually exploited hundreds of women to prison terms of up to 14 years.

Detectives executed dozens of warrants in Hungary and Britain, arresting 11 people in 2014, after a woman who escaped from a London brothel told police how she was sold, exploited and raped over six years.

Scotland Yard said police then identified a wider criminal network that trafficked and exploited up to 250 women at around 50 brothels in London and Peterborough, central England.

Prosecutor Baljit Ubhey described the operation as "sophisticated and commercial scale" and one of the largest ever prosecuted in London.

The seven men and four women all pleaded guilty to trafficking or prostitution charges. Sentences Thursday ranged from 20 months to 14 years.