Five arrested in NCA probe into Vietnamese people smuggling network
Five people, including a suspect detained in Yorkshire, have been arrested in a National Crime Agency investigation into alleged people smuggling.
In the early hours of Tuesday (Feb 17), National Crime Agency officers arrested a 22-year-old man at an address in Rawmarsh, in Rotherham.
The officers also re-arrested four other men who are currently on remand in prison after being charged with money laundering and ID document offences in September and October 2025.
They were three men aged 27, 31 and 33, who were produced from a prison in Liverpool, and a 31-year-old man produced from a prison in Birmingham.
All five are currently being questioned by NCA investigators and are alleged to be key figures in an organised crime group smuggling people from France to the UK since the summer of 2024.
The group is also suspected of holding the genuine Vietnamese passports of those they transported in order to enforce debt bondage.
NCA branch commander Jon Hughes said: “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.
“People smugglers have no regard about the welfare of those they transport. They purely see human beings as commodities to make money from.
“Our investigation continues with the evidence we have gathered today.”