Overview
- The five—three taxi drivers, a Romanian lorry driver, and a 43-year-old suspected ringleader—were charged with conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration.
- Officers intercepted the lorry near Dover after a Jan 26–27 surveillance phase that tracked taxis from London to a site near Whitstable, Kent.
- All 23 people found were Bangladeshi nationals; 22 were confirmed lawfully in the UK, with one detained by immigration enforcement.
- About £30,000 in cash was seized during arrests, and the suspects appeared at magistrates' courts on Jan 28.
- The NCA alleges the network sought to move Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals to skirt border controls, with support from Met Police, Kent Police and Port of Dover Police in the operation.