Taxi drivers arrested by National Crime Agency over Vietnamese people smuggling

Two taxi drivers have been arrested by the National Crime Agency on suspicion of involvement in people smuggling by a Vietnamese organised crime gang.

The first, a 32-year-old man was arrested in an early morning raid on his home in Bolton on Wednesday.

He was detained and questioned on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration.

Around £15,000 in cash was seized from the property.

The second suspect, a 40-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of the same offence, when National Crime Agency officers raided his home in the Kent town of Chatham.

NCA armed officer.
Owen Humphreys

The arrests are linked to a major on going investigation into the smuggling of Vietnamese nationals into the UK in the back of lorries.

Last week, an NCA led raid resulted in the arrest of Vietnamese national Ho Sy Quoc, 21, an alleged senior figure in the people smuggling operation.

He appeared at Birmingham magistrates court on 14 September, charged with assisting unlawful immigration.

The charges relate to the alleged smuggling of Vietnamese migrants into the UK in August and September 2020.

He was remanded in custody until his next court appearance on 12 October.

Ho Sy Quoc, alleged to be a senior figure in the people smuggling operation, appeared at Birmingham Magistrates Court.
Joe Giddens

NCA Branch Operations Manager Paul Boniface said: “Organised immigration crime groups require significant infrastructure – from transport to finance or advertising. These are all things we are seeking to disrupt.”

The senior NCA officer said the organised crime gangs care little for the safety of those they traffic across borders.

“People smugglers treat migrants as a commodity to be profited from and are quite happy to put lives at risk in dangerous journeys in the back of trucks or in small boats.” He said.

“Protecting life and preventing exploitation are our priorities, and this investigation continues.”

In January, four men were jailed for the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants found dead in a lorry trailer in Essex.

An Old Bailey judge said the migrants died "excruciatingly painful" deaths, having suffocated in the container en route from Belgium to Purfleet in October 2019.

Four men were jailed for the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants found dead in a lorry trailer in Essex
Essex police

Ronan Hughes, 41, and Gheorghe Nica, 43, who took a lead role in the smuggling operation, were jailed for 20 and 27 years respectively.

Eamonn Harrison, 24, and Maurice Robison, 26, were jailed for 18 years and 13 years for driving the trailer carrying the migrants.

Although there is significant public attention on the growing small boat crisis, authorities say the organised criminal gangs are still using lorries and other vehicles to smuggle migrants into Britain.

The National Crime Agency leads the law enforcement response to the organised criminality involved in the trafficking and smuggling of people into the UK.

The agency currently has around 50 ongoing investigations into networks or individuals in the top tier of organised immigration crime or human trafficking.