A Leicester man has been jailed for his role in a sophisticated people-smuggling operation that used social media to advertise illegal small boat crossings into the UK.
Hop Cahn Nguyen, 36, of Grasmere Street in Leicester, was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment at Croydon Crown Court after admitting assisting unlawful immigration. His co-defendant, Hoang My Tra Nguyen, 25, of Heathfield Road in Croydon, was jailed for 10 years and six months for the same offence.
Picture credit: National Crime Agency
The pair were arrested in April 2024 following a five-month investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA), working alongside French authorities to dismantle an international organised crime network.
Investigators found the group operated multiple Facebook accounts targeting the Vietnamese community, advertising dangerous Channel crossings from France to the UK. Posts included video clips of migrants travelling in small boats and messages designed to create urgency, such as offering “cheap prices” and limited availability for “seats”.
Both men had themselves entered the UK by small boat in 2023 – Hop in January and Hoang in July -before becoming involved in facilitating crossings for others.
The court heard how the pair would arrange journeys and, once migrants arrived in the UK and their initial claims were processed, help them abscond by connecting them with third parties. Officers monitoring the group uncovered evidence of a well-organised operation, including detailed ledgers recording names, routes and payments.
During the investigation, Hop was stopped by British Transport Police officers at Euston station in February 2024 while attempting to travel to Birmingham with migrants who had recently crossed the Channel.
Following the arrests, officers seized numerous mobile phones and SIM cards, further exposing the scale of the network and its coordination across borders.
The Crown Prosecution Service said the operation was both sophisticated and highly profitable, with the defendants standing to make hundreds of thousands of pounds.
NCA Branch Commander Saju Sasikumar said: “These defendants used social media to advertise small boats crossings, 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.”
He added that migrants arriving via such high-risk routes are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, including being forced into debt bondage.
Specialist prosecutor Hilary Ryan said the case forms part of a wider effort to disrupt organised immigration crime networks operating across Europe.
“Their operation was sophisticated and today’s sentences reflect the scale of their offending and the harm caused,” she said.
The NCA confirmed it is continuing to work closely with social media companies to identify and remove content linked to people smuggling. In 2025, more than 10,000 posts, pages and accounts associated with organised immigration crime were taken down- a record number.
A fourth man, aged 25, was also arrested at the Croydon address on behalf of French authorities and is currently awaiting extradition.
