Police examine the scene where 39 Vietnamese were found dead in a refrigerated container truck in Essex county, the UK, on October 23, 2019 (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) London (VNA) - AVietnamese man described by authorities in Europe as a major people smuggler hasbeen arrested in the United Kingdom.
Khanh Chan, 39, also known bythe name of Nguyen Ngoc Khanh, was part of an international traffickingnetwork, actively smuggling people from Vietnam to Europe between 2015 and2017.
In September last year, Khanhwas jailed for eight years in his absence by a court in Paris after he wasconvicted of people smuggling.
He was initially thought to behiding in London, but investigators from the National Crime Agency (NCA)working with the French authorities tracked him down to an address inBexhill-on-Sea on the south coast of England.
A European arrest warrant wasissued and Khanh was taken into custody. Legal proceedings have begun toextradite him to France to serve his sentence.
NCA head of organisedimmigration crime operations, Steve Reynolds, said: “We believe Chan was asignificant player in an organised crime group responsible for smugglingmigrants across the globe.
“Working with our partners inFrance we managed to locate him here in the UK and will now seek hisextradition so he can serve a prison sentence for offences he has already beenconvicted of in a French court.
“People smugglers treatmigrants like a commodity, and the tragic events last year in Essexdemonstrated how little care for their safety these kinds of gangs have.
“We’re determined to do all wecan to disrupt and dismantle the organised criminal networks involved in thistype of offending.”
Khanh was part of a gang thatwould transport migrants to France, where they would be moved by lorry throughthe Channel ports into the UK, or onto other countries in Europe.
Last October, in a case notlinked to Khanh, the bodies of 39 Vietnamese nationals were found in thetrailer of an articulated refrigerated lorry in Essex, the UK./.
VNA
