The vehicle stopped at an Asda store in Wigan and two of the men tried to transfer cash via Western Union.

Members of an organised crime group visited a Wigan supermarket to transfer cash used in their illegal operation, it has been revealed.

Five people responsible for facilitating illegal entry to the UK of Vietnamese migrants and laundering more than £1.6m have been jailed for almost 40 years.

The NCA investigation, conducted with the French Central Office Against Migrant Smuggling Roissy and Belgian Federal Judicial Police West Flanders, started after a seizure by customs officers at Charles de Gaulle Airport in July 2025.

A package addressed to Quang Nguyen, allegedly containing chocolates and clothes, was found to have 22 Vietnamese passports.

Investigators identified twin brothers Vinh Van Nguyen and Quang Van Nguyen, 31, from Coventry; Van Huy Nguyen, 23, from Rotherham; Lia-Chien Trong, 34, and Sy Trai Ho, 28, both of no fixed UK abode.

The operation was run by Vinh and Quang, who advertised people smuggling services from Vietnam to Europe, with Vinh messaging contacts on Facebook offering an “end-to-end service”.

The wider group worked together collecting cash from locations across the UK and sending it to Vietnam.

Passports were taken from migrants in France, before they travelled to the UK via small boats and lorries, with the documents then sent to accomplices in the UK.

Using the passports as a form of debt bondage, the OCG collected money from the migrants and sent payments for crossings to Vietnam via post offices and money transfer bureaus.

Quang was arrested in Birmingham in September 2025, after he was seen emerging from a parked car and discarding the keys under a parked taxi.

More than £16,700 and 220 Vietnamese passports were found in the car boot, bundled together with handwritten notes and receipts from money transfers.

The receipts led investigators to transfers made at post offices in locations including Coventry, Luton, Wigan, Liverpool, Leeds, Leamington Spa and Rugby.

Further investigation linked the majority of these transactions to members of the group.

NCA officers arrested Vinh, Ho and Trong in Coventry on October 1 last year and rearrested them in February, this timewith Huy.

Before the October arrest Vinh, Ho and Trong were seen in a Vauxhall Astra which travelled from Coventry to a nail bar in the Wrexham area where cash was collected.

The vehicle stopped at an Asda store in Wigan, where Trong and Ho attempted to transfer cash via Western Union.

They were found to have approximately £4,000 when arrested.

Vinh had more than £13,400 and eight Vietnamese passports, some of which contained post office cash deposit receipts.

Examination of Vinh’s phone showed conversations believed to relate to the movement of migrants through Hungary, as well as searches on a website with detailed visualised mapping data for weather forecasts including for the English Channel.

Production orders served on Western Union, Ria Money Transfer and MoneyGram following the suspects’ arrests showed they transferred more than £1.65m across 740 transactions to accounts in Vietnam between July 2024 and October 2025.

Vinh was convicted by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court following a trial. Quang, Trong, Ho and Huy had all pleaded guilty.

Today, Vinh was jailed for 12 years and six months, Quang for nine years and nine months, Huy for seven years and two months, Trong for six years and Ho for four years.