Four Vietnamese nationals have been arrested in London following an investigation into suspected smugglers who advertised crossing the Channel in small boats on Facebook.
A joint British-French investigation alleges the group shared posts directed at the Vietnamese community and charged migrants thousands of pounds to travel to the United States.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Monday officers arrested a 23-year-old woman at an address in Croydon, south London, a 64-year-old man at an address in south-east London and a 34-year-old man in Leicester. ) Said.
A 25-year-old man was also arrested at an address in Croydon on a warrant issued by French authorities.
The old man is believed to have acted as a driver, collecting migrants arriving in small boats and, on at least one occasion, taking them back to an address in Croydon.
The first three were detained on suspicion of aiding and abetting illegal immigration and were questioned by police. All three were charged and appeared at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, the NCA said.
The 25-year-old man will face extradition proceedings on suspicion of being involved in smuggling and drug crimes.
A further 12 people suspected of being involved in the same people-smuggling network were arrested in Paris.
Home Secretary James Cleverley said: “We are doing everything we can to crack down on smugglers and disrupt supply chains.”
“Just last week, we signed a new agreement with Vietnam to strengthen our cooperation on illegal immigration.
“Working with law enforcement agencies such as the NCA, our partners in France and countries such as Vietnam, we are fully committed to dismantling criminal organizations that seek to exploit our borders for profit.”
Chris Farrimond, director of threat leadership at the NCA, said many of those currently arriving by small boat were Vietnamese.
“We allege that the group advertised their crossing services on social media and encouraged others in the country to make the same dangerous journey.
“The NCA continues to work with our partners and thousands of social media pages and posts promoting organized criminal immigration services have been removed from the platform…Our investigations continue to target people smuggled people in the UK and abroad. We target them every step of the way.”
