Five men from an organised crime group have been jailed for smuggling Vietnamese migrants into the UK and confiscating their passports as part of a debt-bondage scheme. Led by twin brothers Vinh and Quang Van Nguyen, the group allegedly used Facebook adverts to offer migrants an “end-to-end” journey to Britain, then collected money from them after their arrival.

Police found more than 220 Vietnamese passports, over £16,700 in cash and records of money transfers during the investigation. More than £1 million was sent to Vietnam through 740 transactions between July 2024 and October 2025, while the wider scheme was assessed at £1.6 million. The five men received sentences ranging from four years and six months to 12 years and six months, totalling nearly 40 years.