'Hurry and get a seat': Vietnamese pair who advertised small boats crossings to UK on Facebook jailed
Two Vietnamese nationals who advertised small boat crossings to Britain on Facebook have been jailed following a major UK-French investigation.
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Hoang My Tra Nguyen, 25, from Croydon and Hop Cahn Nguyen, 36, from Leicester were arrested by National Crime Agency officers in April 2024 after a five-month investigation.
Hoang and Hop, along with another man awaiting extradition to France, controlled Facebook accounts targetting the Vietnamese community advertising crossings from France to the UK.
They would include video clips of individuals travelling on small boats and provide UK mobile numbers to arrange travel.
Messages on their posts 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".
The NCA said Hoang and Hop would arrange crossings for migrants and helped 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.
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 both sentenced on March 30.
Hop Cahn Nguyen was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment and Hoang My Tra Nguyen was sentenced to 10 years' and six months' imprisonment.
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'No interest in safety'
NCA Branch Commander Saju Sasikumar said: "These defendants used social media to advertise small boats 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.
"Vietnamese nationals entering via a high risk and clandestine method like this automatically makes them vulnerable to be exploited or held under debt bondage.
"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."
'Undermine our borders'
Hilary Ryan, Specialist Prosecutor, from the Crown Prosecution Service said: "The prison sentences handed down today are the latest in a series of prosecutions of criminals bringing Vietnamese migrants illegally into the UK.
"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.
"Prosecutors in the CPS continue to work with the National Crime Agency and others to disrupt these gangs and put them out of business."