Three in court over people smuggling

The arrests followed a year-long investigation

Three people have appeared in court charged in connection with an alleged people-smuggling ring at Heathrow airport.

Immigration Crime Team officers arrested eight people in a swoop on Terminal Three at the west London airport on Saturday.

The arrests were part of Operation Groundmass, a year-long investigation into a gang suspected of helping asylum seekers get illegally into the United States from the UK.

Virgin Atlantic and an airport security firm began working closely with officers after it became clear an unusual number of attempts to enter the US were being made on Virgin services.

Three remanded

Kulvinder Chand Ram, 26 and Charanjit Singh Thiara, 35, both of Southall, Middlesex, and Manminder Bolina, 22, a Heathrow security employee from Slough, Berkshire, appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Monday.

They were remanded in custody until November 19.

Over the weekend, two other men were released without charge and a further three, including two Virgin Atlantic employees, were released on bail.