Five members of an organised crime group responsible for facilitating illegal entry to the UK of Vietnamese migrants and laundered more than £1.6 million in cash from that criminality have been jailed for a total of almost 40 years.

The NCA investigation, conducted jointly with the French Central Office Against Migrant Smuggling Roissy (OLTIM) and Belgian Federal Judicial Police West Flanders (FGP), commenced following a seizure by French Customs officers at Charles de Gaulle Airport in July 2025. A package addressed to Quang Nguyen, allegedly containing chocolates and clothes, was actually found to contain 22 Vietnamese passports.

The NCA investigation identified twin brothers Vinh Van Nguyen and Quang Van Nguyen, 31, from Coventry; Van Huy Nguyen, 23, from Rotherham; Lia-Chien Trong, 34, and Sy Trai Ho, 28, both of no fixed UK abode.

The operation was run by Vinh and Quang who advertised people smuggling services from Vietnam to Europe with Vinh messaging contacts on Facebook offering an "end-to-end service". The wider group worked together collecting cash from various locations across the UK and sending it onwards to Vietnam.

Passports were taken from migrants by members of the crime group in France, before they travelled to the UK via small boats and lorries, with the documents then sent to accomplices in the UK.

Using the passports as a form of debt bondage, the OCG collected money from the migrants and then sent payments for crossings back to Vietnam via Post Offices and money transfers bureaus such as Western Union, Money Gram or Ria. The money was transferred to accounts under their control in Vietnam.

Quang was arrested by West Midlands Police in Birmingham city centre on 11 September 2025. The officers, part of the Operation Fearless team targeting organised crime in the Southside area of the city, saw Quang acting suspiciously after emerging from the driver's seat of a parked car and discarding the keys under a parked taxi.

The car was searched and found to contain more than £16,700 in cash and 220 Vietnamese passports in the boot bundled together with handwritten notes and receipts from previous money transfers.

The receipts recovered from the car led investigators to numerous transfers made at Post Offices in locations including Coventry, Luton, Wigan, Liverpool, Leeds, Leamington Spa and Rugby. Further investigation linked the majority of these transactions to members of the crime group including Vinh, Ho, Huy, Trong and Quang who transferred money over a 15-month period between July 2024 and October 2025.

Trong was further linked to the conspiracy following forensic analysis of a bag located within the car. The bag contained a number of passports wrapped in a bloodstained Argentina football shirt which contained Trong's DNA.

Quang's phone was forensically examined and found to contain messages about people smuggling offences. In one exchange with an individual called 'Bao', he was sent an image of a Romanian-registered lorry and a ferry booking for a further vehicle. Both vehicles had entered the UK on 18 July 2025, travelling in convoy to the M25 Thurrock Services. The pair discussed being underpaid for their involvement.

Other exchanges between Quang and a person called 'Alex' show discussions over the movement of 'chickens' (slang for migrants) and the prices for doing so.

Facebook messages between Quang and Trong detailed screenshots of addresses for nail salons along with names and dates of births of Vietnamese nationals, some of which related to the passports seized on 11 September. This showed that migrants were placed in workplaces under 'debt bondage' to pay for illegal entry to the UK.

NCA officers arrested Vinh, Ho and Trong in Coventry on 1 October last year and rearrested them in February this year along with Huy for the first time.

Before the October arrest Vinh, Ho and Trong were observed in a white Vauxhall Astra which travelled from Coventry to a nail bar in the Wrexham area where cash was collected.

The vehicle stopped at an Asda store in Wigan where Trong and Ho attempted to transfer cash via Western Union. They were found to be in possession of approximately £4,000 in cash when arrested. Vinh was found with more than £13,400 in cash and eight Vietnamese passports in the vehicle, some of which contained Post Office cash deposit receipts.

Some of the cash was in a blue bag that Trong and Vinh had collected from the Wrexham nail bar.

Examination of Vinh's phone showed conversations believed to relate to the movement of migrants through Hungary including routes, flights, passports, addresses near migrant safehouses in France and references to lifejackets.

Communication using the "Zalo" app between Vinh and Huy, who used the handle 'Gucci', show Vinh discussing the movement of people and travel routes. There was discussion in the same chat advertising routes from Vietnam to the UK costing $20,000 per person.

A Facebook Messenger chat between Vinh and another individual between October 2024 and July 2025 discusses bringing "chickens" to the UK. Vinh says: "I DON'T HAVE A JOB YET BUT SOON I HAVE CHICKENS THAT I WANT TO BRING TO THE UK BY TRUCK [...] IT'S WINTER NOW AND IT'S DANGEROUS TO GO BOATING SO I DON'T ACCEPT CHICKENS ANYMORE..."

Vinh's phone was also found to contain multiple searches on windy.com, which provides detailed visualised mapping data for weather forecasts including wind and wave data for the English Channel. The website was accessed 99 times over a 61-day period.

Examination of Trong's phone showed notes detailing monetary amounts, Post Office locations and banking details. Within one chat, Trong says to an unknown individual: "OVER HERE WE SEND PAPERS TO VIETNAM, CALLED MONEY LAUNDERING."

Production Orders were served on Western Union, Ria Money Transfer and MoneyGram following the suspect's arrests. These showed that between them they transferred more than £1.65 million across 740 transactions to accounts in Vietnam between July 2024 and October 2025.

Vinh was convicted by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court on 25 August following a two-week trial.

Quang and Trong pleaded guilty at previous hearings, while Ho and Huy changed their pleas to guilty just after the trial started.

At the same court today (15 September) Vinh was sentenced to 12 years and six months imprisonment, Quang to nine years and nine months, Huy to seven years and two months, Trong to six years and Ho to four years.

NCA branch commander Sara-Jayne Moore said:

"This group had no qualms about transporting migrants for profit, as shown by the heartless language used to describe their human cargo.

"The huge numbers of passports seized by the NCA and our policing partners demonstrates the scale of the operation overseen by Quang and Vinh.

"Migrants faced further misery on their arrival to the UK, with many working in the grey economy under 'debt bondage' arrangements.

"We will continue to work with partners abroad, including those in France and Belgium, to pursue the crime groups responsible for organised immigration crime, and bring individuals to justice."

Tackling organised immigration crime remains a top priority for the NCA, which is putting more resource into targeting the criminal networks behind it than ever before. This is bringing operational results with increases in seizures, arrests and disruptions.

The Agency currently has more than 100 investigations ongoing into individuals or networks involved in people smuggling.

15 September 2026