The United Kingdom's (UK) National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Wednesday that a man suspected of being a high-ranking member of a Vietnamese people smuggling network has been arrested in Liverpool.

Mai Van Nguyen, 32, of Holloway Circus, Birmingham, was detained in an operation in the Woolton area of Liverpool on Tuesday morning, the NCA said.

After being questioned by NCA investigators, he was charged with conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering. He was scheduled to appear before Birmingham Crown Court late on Wednesday.

An NCA spokesman said that 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 on Feb. 28. Meanwhile, a taxi driver from Bolton in northern England has been accused of working with the same network and has also been charged with people smuggling offenses.

NCA Operations Manager Paul Boniface said this was 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.

The spotlight was thrown on people smuggling into the UK in 2019, when 39 Vietnamese nationals were found dead in the back of a container vehicle after it arrived in the UK from the European continent.

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