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Two Vietnamese people smugglers who raked in an estimated £750,000 from advertising illegal Channel crossings on Facebook have been jailed for more than a decade.
Hop Can Nguyen, 46, and Hoang My Tra Nguyen, 25, helped traffic at least 250 migrants into the UK - offering journeys costing up to £18,000 - before disappearing from Home Office accommodation.
The pair, who arrived in Britain themselves by small boat, were sentenced at Croydon Crown Court after admitting assisting unlawful immigration between January 2023 and April 2024.
Hop Nguyen was jailed for 12 years, while Hoang Nguyen received 10 years and six months. Both will be deported to Vietnam after serving their sentences.
Prosecutors said the duo quickly embedded themselves in a 'highly sophisticated people smuggling operation', using social media to target vulnerable Vietnamese nationals desperate to reach the UK.
Anna Dutka, prosecuting, said: 'These two defendants are in fact part of a wider people smuggling operation.
'Those migrants whom they assist to arrive illegally, they would put them in hotels, and criminal syndicates would help them abscond.'
The court heard they openly advertised their services on Facebook, promoting crossings as 'fast, convenient, and prestigious', and directing customers to message them on the Zalo app.
Hop Nguyen was jailed for 12 years after he helped traffic at least 250 migrants into the UK - offering journeys costing up to £18,000
Hoang Nguyen received 10 years and six months at Croydon Crown Court after admitting assisting unlawful immigration between January 2023 and April 2024
Ms Dutka said: 'The interpretation of the posts is quite simple: for less than £3,000 the defendants would assist travel to the UK.'
Migrants were offered a range of options, with higher prices promising more comfortable journeys - but the grim reality was far different.
Messages recovered by police revealed complaints of people being crammed into tiny spaces and travelling in unsafe dinghies.
Ms Dutka added: 'The boats were managed by third party criminal syndicates after deducting those costs, for example accommodation, profit per migrant would be £1,500 to £2,000.'
Evidence showed the scale of the operation, with officers seizing cash, phones and a ledger containing more than 1,000 names and numbers.
Hop Nguyen was caught at Euston station on February 1 last year trying to travel to Birmingham with three newly arrived migrants.
Ms Dutka said: 'On 1 February 2024, Hop was stopped at Euston in the afternoon attempting to travel to Birmingham with three migrants who had arrived by small boat.
'They immediately absconded from Home Office accommodation.'
Both defendants were arrested in April 2024 and gave no comment in police interviews.
Messages on their phones showed how they lured customers, including posts stating: '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'.
In one exchange, Hop Nguyen told a migrant they would 'earn a lot of money in the UK and that life in the UK was easier than it was in Germany.'
In another, he complained about a lack of crossings, saying 'there had not been many trips lately' and added of one client: 'He should consider himself lucky to have somewhere to stay.'
Hoang Nguyen was also found offering discounted rates to family members, including a 'special price' reduced from £4,500 to £3,700.
The pair referred to migrants as 'chickens' in messages discussing pick-ups, the court heard.
Hoang Nguyen was arrested at her home in Croydon, where officers recovered £8,147 in cash. Her partner, Thuan Sy Tran, 26, is awaiting extradition to France.
In mitigation, the court heard Hop Nguyen had left school at 11 and was told he owed a £15,000 debt for his own journey to the UK after being offered free passage.
Hoang Nguyen's barrister described her life as a 'miserable' and 'hellish' existence, saying she had come to Britain to reunite with her mother and had worked in a nail bar.
Judge Antony Dunne said both would be deported after serving their sentences.
National Crime Agency 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.'
Hilary Ryan, from the Crown Prosecution Service, added: '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.'
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