Arrests over people smuggling

Asylum seekers can be exploited by the criminals

Scotland Yard has made 65 arrests in London in a three-month crackdown on organised crime gangs smuggling people into the UK.

The gangs bring in illegal immigrants including eastern European and Thai women to work as prostitutes and are also involved in money laundering and kidnapping.

Some suspects were also found to have access to large numbers of fake identities.

The operation - codenamed Maxim - also involved the Immigration Service, National Crime Squad and National Criminal Intelligence Service.

Detectives from Scotland Yard' Intelligence Branch are working with immigration officers in a new joint intelligence group to seek out criminals entering the country illegally.

Last week four Bulgarians were arrested and 14 blank Bulgarian passports, 12 blank Bulgarian ID cards, 12 blank Bulgarian driving licences and stolen national insurance cards were found.

Forged documents

In early July nine addresses were searched and more than £20,000 was recovered along with forged Vietnamese documents.

A police spokesman said: "The documents recovered and the intelligence gleaned during interviews with those arrested is assisting us in building a clearer picture of the scale and degree of organised crime involving foreign nationals in London."

Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said the number of children turning up illegally from Europe and Africa was a concern.

"There is no evidence that a significant amount of youngsters under 16 are engaged in serious sexual prostitution in premises or on the streets," he said.

"We are concerned as to the threat, though, with the number of people turning up at ports, especially airports, who are kids on their own.

"They have to be taken into social services, if they weren't they could be exploited."