A suspected 'high-ranking' member of a significant human trafficking network has been arrested in Liverpool.
Mai Van Nguyen, 32, was detained in an operation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the Woolton area on Tuesday morning (February 8).
After being questioned by NCA investigators, Nguyen, of Holloway Circus, Birmingham, was charged with conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering and is due to appear in court today.
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A spokesman for the NCA said the arrest is the latest phase of an investigation into the smuggling of mainly Vietnamese migrants into the UK in the backs of lorries in August, September and October 2020.
The investigation has already seen a number of others arrested and two men charged.
Ho Sy Quoc, 22, of Handsworth, Birmingham, was arrested in September 2021 and is due to stand trial at Birmingham Crown Court on February 28.
Meanwhile a Bolton taxi driver, accused of working with the same network, has also been charged with people smuggling offences.
Karzan Mohammed, 32, of Brandwood Street, Daubhill, will appear before Wigan Magistrates today charged with conspiring to assist unlawful immigration.
He was arrested by NCA officers in September last year, and charged when he answered bail last month.
Paul Boniface, NCA branch operations manager, said: "This is the latest phase of an ongoing investigation into the activities of a significant smuggling network, bringing people illegally into the UK and then laundering the profits.
“These groups treat people as a commodity to be profited from and are quite happy to put lives at risk.
"We are determined to do all we can to stop them."
The NCA leads the law enforcement response to organised criminality involved in the trafficking and smuggling of people impacting upon the UK.
The agency says it currently has around 50 ongoing investigations into networks or individuals in the top tier of organised immigration crime or human trafficking.
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