Paul Kennedy

LONDON A joint operation between law enforcement officers in the UK and France has led to the arrest of three people from a Vietnamese organised crime group involved in transporting migrants to the UK in lorries and small boats.

The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) apprehended a 25-year-old woman at an address in Wrexham and a 25-year-old man in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on March 30.

French Police arrested a further 16 people in and around Paris in simultaneous raids, supported by colleagues from Europol, Eurojust and Belgian federal police. They also discovered 41 migrants, including 11 who were being housed in one address.

The arrests were connected to the same investigation, which saw five men apprehended and charged in north west England and South Yorkshire in February this year.

All five are alleged to be key figures in a Vietnamese organised crime group smuggling people from France to the UK in HGVs and small boats.

Alex Cruise, NCA Senior Investigating Officer, said: “These arrests are a great example of partnership working with our colleagues in France to tackle the groups behind dangerous crossings to the UK. Such journeys put those being moved at great risk and undermine border security.”

Police arrest a woman in Wrexham, UK, on suspicion of money laundering. Photo courtesy of the National Crime Agency

The woman arrested is suspected of assisting the group by laundering money, while the man is believed to have organised facilitation through lower members of the crime group.

Specialist officers from the NCA’s National Extradition Unit also apprehended a 26-year-old man in Birmingham after a warrant for his arrest was issued by French authorities. He is suspected of overseeing accommodation for migrants destined for the UK.

He was remanded into custody as the process to extradite him to France began.

The organised crime group is suspected of facilitating migrants on commercial airlines from Vietnam to central and eastern Europe, before onward journeys to France, after which they were moved to the UK on small boats and lorries.

The crime group are believed to hold the genuine Vietnamese passports of those smuggled into the UK as debt bondage.

Cruise added: “Tackling people smuggling remains a top priority for the NCA, and this is one of approximately 100 ongoing investigations targeting groups or individuals both directly involved in organising journeys, or those who facilitate that criminality.

“Our investigation continues with the evidence we have gathered.”

Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Alex Norris, said: "This government is bearing down on those who attempt to abuse our borders.

"These arrests demonstrate the strength of our cooperation with France in confronting the criminal networks behind the unacceptable Channel crossings, which threaten our border security.

"We are strengthening law enforcement powers so officers can intercept, detain and arrest people smugglers faster to restore order and control to our borders." VNS