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Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Yahoo
Traffickers who ran migrant cannabis farms jailed
Members of an organised crime gang which forced trafficked migrants to work in cannabis farms across the country have been jailed. The ringleader of the gang, Mai Van Nguyen, 35, from Birmingham, led a criminal network of Vietnamese nationals to exploit the migrants after they were trafficked into the country on lorries or boats, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said. Taxi drivers were then used to move the migrants to farms and properties around the country. Many were forced to live in degrading conditions in order to pay off their debt and some were subjected to violence, Kevin Broadhead, from the NCA, said. Nguyen worked with fellow Vietnamese nationals Doung Dinh, 38, from Birmingham, and Nghia Dinh Tran, 30, from Lewisham, London, to exploit migrants by putting them to work. According to the NCA, a trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard how taxi drivers Shamraiz Akhtar and Tasawar Hussain, 53 and 54 respectively and from Birmingham, would move migrants between various properties for the gang and were paid hundreds of pounds each time. They would also carry equipment and cannabis, said the NCA. A sixth member of the gang, Amjad Nawaz, 44, from Birmingham, arranged the properties which were used for buying and selling drugs. The trial heard from one trafficking victim who said he was forced to work after being exploited by the gang. In June 2021, he was arrested after officers from Cleveland Police raided a farm at a house in Hartlepool. Inside the property, officers found a note pinned to a bedroom door saying "take what you want, please don't hit me, I do not know English" and a handwritten diary extract from a migrant in which they asked: "Why did I get beaten up and forced to work?" Farms linked to the network were found in Tipton, Coventry and Edgbaston in the West Midlands, Derby, Hartlepool, East Ham in London and Gatley in Cheshire. Nguyen and Tran both pleaded guilty to conspiring to produce cannabis but the others denied the charge. All six denied charges of trafficking for exploitation but on 24 February, following a seven-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, all six were found guilty of all charges. The sentences handed down to the six men were: • Mai Van Nguyen, 35, of Beetham Tower, Birmingham – 15 years • Doung Dinh, 38, of St John's Walk, Birmingham – 14 years • Nghia Dinh Tran, 30, of Casella Road, Lewisham, London – 11 years 6 months • Amjad Nawaz, 44, of Blake Lane, Birmingham - 12 years • Tasawar Hussain, 54, of Millward Street, Birmingham - 10 years • Shamraiz Akhtar, 53, of Nechells Park Road, Birmingham - 10 years 6 months The NCA said, in a separate hearing at the same court, two members of another organised crime group were also sentenced on Friday. The agency said Roman Le, 37, from Birmingham, headed a gang who operated at least eight farms in residential and commercial properties as well as a storage facility which housed both equipment and harvested cannabis. The NCA said he found properties by posing as a developer and then buying or renting them. They said Le worked with co-defendants Yihao Feng, 29, from Manchester, and David Qayumi, 36, from Birmingham, to find and run the properties. They included a disused nightclub in Coventry, a former pub in Birmingham and an old hotel in Lancashire. Overall the farms were capable of making millions of pounds worth of cannabis, the agency said. Feng was sentenced to three years and two months in prison, Qayumi got three years and four months and Le will be sentenced on 30 July, the NCA said. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. National Crime Agency
BBC News
05-07-2025
- BBC News
Traffickers who ran migrant cannabis farms jailed in Birmingham
Members of an organised crime gang which forced trafficked migrants to work in cannabis farms across the country have been ringleader of the gang, Mai Van Nguyen, 35, from Birmingham, led a criminal network of Vietnamese nationals to exploit the migrants after they were trafficked into the country on lorries or boats, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said. Taxi drivers were then used to move the migrants to farms and properties around the country. Many were forced to live in degrading conditions in order to pay off their debt and some were subjected to violence, Kevin Broadhead, from the NCA, said. Nguyen worked with fellow Vietnamese nationals Doung Dinh, 38, from Birmingham, and Nghia Dinh Tran, 30, from Lewisham, London, to exploit migrants by putting them to to the NCA, a trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard how taxi drivers Shamraiz Akhtar and Tasawar Hussain, 53 and 54 respectively and from Birmingham, would move migrants between various properties for the gang and were paid hundreds of pounds each would also carry equipment and cannabis, said the NCA. A sixth member of the gang, Amjad Nawaz, 44, from Birmingham, arranged the properties which were used for buying and selling drugs. The trial heard from one trafficking victim who said he was forced to work after being exploited by the gang. In June 2021, he was arrested after officers from Cleveland Police raided a farm at a house in the property, officers found a note pinned to a bedroom door saying "take what you want, please don't hit me, I do not know English" and a handwritten diary extract from a migrant in which they asked: "Why did I get beaten up and forced to work?"Farms linked to the network were found in Tipton, Coventry and Edgbaston in the West Midlands, Derby, Hartlepool, East Ham in London and Gatley in Cheshire. Nguyen and Tran both pleaded guilty to conspiring to produce cannabis but the others denied the charge. All six denied charges of trafficking for exploitation but on 24 February, following a seven-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, all six were found guilty of all charges. The sentences handed down to the six men were:• Mai Van Nguyen, 35, of Beetham Tower, Birmingham – 15 years• Doung Dinh, 38, of St John's Walk, Birmingham – 14 years• Nghia Dinh Tran, 30, of Casella Road, Lewisham, London – 11 years 6 months• Amjad Nawaz, 44, of Blake Lane, Birmingham - 12 years• Tasawar Hussain, 54, of Millward Street, Birmingham - 10 years• Shamraiz Akhtar, 53, of Nechells Park Road, Birmingham - 10 years 6 months Second gang also sentenced The NCA said, in a separate hearing at the same court, two members of another organised crime group were also sentenced on agency said Roman Le, 37, from Birmingham, headed a gang who operated at least eight farms in residential and commercial properties as well as a storage facility which housed both equipment and harvested NCA said he found properties by posing as a developer and then buying or renting said Le worked with co-defendants Yihao Feng, 29, from Manchester, and David Qayumi, 36, from Birmingham, to find and run the included a disused nightclub in Coventry, a former pub in Birmingham and an old hotel in the farms were capable of making millions of pounds worth of cannabis, the agency was sentenced to three years and two months in prison, Qayumi got three years and four months and Le will be sentenced on 30 July, the NCA said. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Sunday World
04-07-2025
- Sunday World
Gangsters who forced migrants to work in cannabis farms jailed for 80 years
Workers were forced to live in squalid conditions with threats made to their lives and those of their families should they fail to comply with the conspirators demands Eight members of a ruthless crime gang who forced trafficked migrants to work in cannabis farms have been jailed for a total of 80 years in the UK. The organised crime gangs that produced drugs on 'an industrial scale' exploited vulnerable migrants who had been smuggled or trafficked into the UK for the sole purpose of being put to work. Workers were forced to live in squalid conditions with threats made to their lives and those of their families should they fail to comply with the conspirators demands. Two separate National Crime Agency (NCA) investigations into the activities of the organised whose ringleaders were both based in Birmingham, revealed how they ran farms across the Midlands, London and north of England. The first gang was dismantled following an NCA investigation into the activities of convicted people smuggler Mai Van Nguyen (35) of Beetham Tower, Birmingham. He led a criminal network involving fellow Vietnamese nationals Doung Dinh (38) from Birmingham, and Nghia Dinh Tran (24) from Lewisham, London, who exploited migrants by putting them to work. Mai Van Nguyen, Duong Dinh, Nghĩa Dinh Tran, Shamraiz Akhtar, Tasawar Hussain, Amjad Nawaz (Image: NCA) Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 4th A trial at Birmingham Crown Court in January and February heard how taxi drivers Shamraiz Akhtar and Tasawar Hussain, both 50 and from Birmingham, were paid hundreds of pounds for moving migrants around various properties for the gang, They would also transport cannabis or equipment for the farms. A sixth member of the gang, Amjad Nawaz (44) from Birmingham, acted as a middleman for Nguyen as they organised workers, the buying and selling of cannabis, and arranging for properties to be used in Birmingham. Their trial heard from a victim of trafficking, a Vietnamese national named only as 'Witness Z' who was exploited by the gang after arriving in the UK by boat in November 2020. Witness Z said he had no choice but to work in a number of cannabis grows, as he was in debt bondage to the people who had transported him to the UK. He was arrested in June 2021 after officers from Cleveland Police raided a farm at a house in Hartlepool where they found a note pinned to a bedroom door saying 'take what you want, please don't hit me, I do not know English'. Officer also discovered a hand-written diary extract from a migrant in which they ask 'why did I get beaten up and forced to work?' Over the course of the NCA investigation cannabis farms linked to the network were found in Tipton, Coventry and Edgbaston in the West Midlands, Derby, Hartlepool, East Ham in London and Gatley in Cheshire. Harvested cannabis was recovered from a further property in Hall Green, Birmingham. Nguyen and Tran both pleaded guilty to conspiring to produce cannabis, but the others denied the charge. All six denied charges of trafficking for exploitation but were found guilty of all charges on Monday, February 24 following a seven-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court. Today, Nguyen was jailed for 15 years, Dinh got 14 years, Tran was sentenced to 11-and-half years, Nawaz 12 years, while Hussain and Akhtar got 10 and 10-and-a-half years respectively. In separate hearing at the same court two other members of a second organised crime group were also sentenced today. Roman Le (37) from Birmingham, was the leader of a gang that operated at least eight farms in residential and commercial properties, as well as a storage facility housing both equipment and harvested cannabis. Posing as property developer, Le sourced the properties and either bought or rented them, in some cases erecting scaffolding around the buildings, making it look like renovation work was taking place, to disguise the real use. Le worked with co-defendants Yihao Feng (29) from Manchester, and David Qayumi (36) from Birmingham, to source and operate the properties including a disused nightclub in Coventry, a former public house in Birmingham, and an old hotel in Lancashire. Together, the farms were capable of making millions of pounds worth of cannabis. Qayumi, who posed as a businessman, worked alongside with Le to buy, rent or sub-let the properties, while Feng acted as an 'operations manager' making sure the secret factories kept working. Today, a judge handed Feng a sentence of three-years-and-two-months in prison, Qayumi got three-years-and-four-months. Le will be sentenced on 30 July. NCA Branch Commander Kevin Broadhead said today's sentencing hearings are the culmination of two major NCA investigations. 'These gangs were involved in drug production on an industrial scale, often exploiting migrants who had been smuggled or trafficked into the UK for the sole purpose of being put to work, or who were working to pay off debts,' he said. 'The men sentenced today didn't care that these migrants were brought to the UK in incredibly dangerous ways in lorries or in boats and were then made to live in degrading conditions, often under the threat of violence. They just saw them as a way to make money. 'The sentences handed out today should serves as a warning, the NCA is determined to target, disrupt and dismantle the criminal gangs involved, and we will use all the powers at our disposal to do so.' Lauren Doshi of the Crown Prosecution Service added: 'These defendants make use of vulnerable people who are driven by poverty to seek to work illegally in the UK. 'They were forced to live in squalid conditions with threats made to their lives and those of their families should they fail to comply with the conspirators demands.'
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Yahoo
Key people smugglers slapped with order to stop future criminality
A trio of people smugglers have been hit with an extra order to stop any future criminality. Eglantin Doksani, Mai Van Nguyen and Richard Styles are now subject to Serious Crime Prevention Orders which are designed to frustrate criminality and protect the public. The courts grant the orders and limit their opportunities to continue their illegal activities and making them less attractive to organised crime gangs looking to recruit. READ MORE: 'Fire sale' of historic home in Sutton Park branded 'absolute disgrace' READ MORE: UK households putting out bins in March face £1,000 fine over little-known rule Read More: Police bust huge cannabis grow hidden inside industrial estate The order can also restrict the number of mobile phones or computers that offenders can access and limit the amount of cash they can carry. It can also require them to surrender passports and financial information. Eglantin Doksani was made the subject of an SCPO for his role in the movement of hundreds of migrants into the United Kingdom using small boats over the Channel. Doksani was sentenced to nine years and nine months in prison in July 2024 and was given a five-year Serious Crime Prevention Order, which will become live upon release from prison. Doksani acted as an agent for migrants and arranged spaces on boats and was in direct contact with people smugglers operating in Europe. His order includes restrictions around his communication devices, possession of money and bank accounts, notification of finances and assets, notification of travel outside the United Kingdom, and prohibition on the possession of official documentation—preventing him from having official identity documents that do not belong to him or family members or for anyone not residing in the same address. As part of the order he will also have to give the NCA notification of his residence. Get the latest BirminghamLive news direct to your inbox People smuggler Mai Van Nguyen was also made the subject of a five-year SCPO for moving Vietnamese illegal migrants into the United Kingdom in the backs of lorries. He was jailed for five-and-a-half years in November 2023, and on 24 February 2025, a jury found him guilty of further charges relating to the exploitation of migrants being made to work in cannabis farms run by his gang. His order includes restrictions around communication devices, possession of cash, notification of finances and assets, and notification of premises both within and outside the UK. Richard Styles was also made subject of a five-year SCPO after being jailed for 12 years for his role in a plot to smuggle four Albanians into the United Kingdom by flying them to an airfield in Northamptonshire. Styles was a qualified pilot who flew to Belgium to meet an associate and then flew the four migrants into the United Kingdom. He was arrested upon landing the plane and convicted of facilitating a breach of immigration law. His order includes restrictions on communication devices, the prohibition of private aircraft, restrictions on travel and travel documents, the prohibition of importations, and notification requirements for entry to airports or airfields or the boundaries of an airport or airfield. Alison Abbott, Head of the NCA's Prison and Lifetime Management Unit, said: "Offenders involved in organised crime groups so often think they can return to their criminal ventures once they are released from prison. "But making them subject to Serious Crime Prevention Orders mean we will continue to monitor their activity and prevent them from engaging in further criminality. "These men were key players in organised immigration crime and their SCPOs mean they will be less attractive for recruitment to criminal groups, and even communicating with them will be risky. "Organised immigration crime remains a priority for the NCA and these orders show we will use all powers available to us to dismantle criminal gangs and prevent further harm to the people they exploit. "Orders are enforced by the NCA and action is taken against offenders who breach the terms of their orders."
