Hoang My Tra Nguyen, 25 and Hop Cahn Nguyen, 36, have both been jailed in the UK. Photo courtesy of the National Crime Agency

LONDON Two Vietnamese nationals who used Facebook to advertise a people smuggling service on small boats have been jailed following a major UK-French investigation.

Hoang My Tra Nguyen, 25, from Heathfield Road in Croydon and Hop Cahn Nguyen, 36, from Grasmere Street, Leicester, were arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers in April 2024 after a five-month investigation.

On March 30, 2026, Hop was sentenced to 12 years and Hoang to 10 years and six months' imprisonment.

NCA Branch Commander Saju Sasikumar said: "Vietnamese nationals entering via a high risk and clandestine method like this automatically makes them vulnerable to being exploited or held under debt bondage.”

Hilary Ryan, a specialist prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service, added: "Hop Nguyen and Hoang Nguyen advertised on Facebook and then arranged illegal travel as part of an international organised crime network trying to undermine our borders.

"Their operation was sophisticated and they stood to make hundreds of thousands of pounds and today's sentence reflects that."

Both had arrived in the UK by small boat in January and July 2023. Hoang and Hop controlled Facebook accounts, together with another man who is awaiting extradition to France, to advertise small boats crossings from France to the UK, targeting the Vietnamese community.

They would include video clips of individuals travelling on a small boat and provide UK mobile numbers to arrange travel.

Messages included: "I still have a few direct flights to the UK. Passport available everyone" and "Orders for you guys who want to enter Europe with a cheap price... you guys hurry and get a seat".

Hoang and Hop would arrange crossings for migrants and help them to abscond by putting them in touch with a third party once their claims were processed. 

Officers put the group under surveillance and began to monitor their movements over the course of five months.

In February 2024, Hop was stopped by British Transport Police officers at Euston station, attempting to travel to Birmingham with migrants who had recently crossed the Channel via small boat.

Following their arrest in April, officers seized numerous mobile phones, SIM cards and ledgers detailing the names, costs and details of routes. 

Nguyen and Nguyen appeared at Croydon Crown Court in August 2024 and pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration.

They were sentenced at the same court on March 30.

Sasikumar said: "These defendants used social media to advertise small boat crossings for migrants, claiming cheap prices and urgency to entice people looking for a new life.

"These crossings are extremely dangerous and the defendants had no interest in the safety of those making the journey, aside from ensuring they received their payment and made significant profits.

"We will continue in our efforts to tackle organised immigration crime, from targeting people smugglers at every step of the route to removing social media pages attempting to advertise people smuggling."

Ryan noted: "The prison sentences handed down today are the latest in a series of prosecutions of criminals bringing Vietnamese migrants illegally into the UK.

"Prosecutors in the CPS continue to work with the National Crime Agency and others to disrupt these gangs and put them out of business."

The NCA is working in partnership with social media companies to take down social media posts, pages and accounts advertising the services of people smugglers.

In 2025, more than 10,000 posts, pages or accounts linked to organised immigration crime were removed from platforms, a record number.

A fourth man, aged 25, was also arrested at the address in Croydon by the NCA on behalf of the French authorities. VNS