Five Men Jailed for Holding Migrants’ Passports in Debt Bondage

Five members of an organised crime gang have been jailed after seizing migrants’ passports in a “debt bondage” operation.

The migrants were smuggled into the UK from France as part of a vast £1.6million money-laundering network led by 31-year-old twin brothers Vinh Van Nguyen and Quang Van Nguyen.

The brothers used Facebook adverts promoting an “end-to-end service” to entice Vietnamese asylum seekers seeking to be smuggled into Europe and eventually Britain.

After arriving in France, the migrants had their passports confiscated before making the crossing to the UK in small boats or lorries.

The gang then held the documents as leverage, using them to enforce debt bondage while collecting money from migrants to send back to Vietnam.

Investigators found that more than £1million was transferred to the south-east Asian country in 740 transactions between July 2024 and October 2025.

Quang was arrested in Birmingham city centre by West Midlands Police on September 11 last year.

Officers searched his car and discovered more than £16,700 in cash, along with 220 Vietnamese passports in the boot. The documents were bundled with handwritten notes and receipts linked to earlier money transfers.

After studying the receipts, police uncovered the true scale of the money laundering scheme with cash transactions taking place across the country including Coventry, Luton, Wigan, Liverpool, Leeds, Leamington Spa and Rugby.

While Quang’s phone contained numerous messages about people smuggling where migrants were referred to as ‘chickens’, which the National Crime Agency (NCA) said was slang used by the gang.

The international investigation into the gang began in July 2025 when French customs officers at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport intercepted a package addressed to Quang.

The parcel, which was labelled as containing chocolates and clothes, was found to contain 22 Vietnamese passports.

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Further inquiries linked money transfers made through Post Offices across the UK to members of the group.

The investigation into the criminal activities of the group led to the arrest of Vinh as well as Lia-Chien Trong, 34, and Sy Trai Ho, 28, in October last year and Van Huy Nguyen, 23, in February. 

Now, following a two-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court, the men have been jailed for a total of almost 40 years.

Vinh was convicted of conspiracy to assist illegal entry into the UK and transferring criminal property.

Quang and Lia-Chien Trong, 34, had previously admitted both offences, while Sy Trai Ho, 28, and Van Huy Nguyen, 23, from Rotherham, changed their pleas to guilty after the trial began.

Vinh was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison, Quang to nine years and nine months, Huy to seven years and two months, Trong, of no fixed address, to six years and Ho, also of no fixed address, to four years and six months.

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.’