British police believe they have smashed a large illegal immigration ring based in southeast Asia after arresting six men during raids on houses this morning.
A National Crime Squad spokeswoman said eight houses in London, Birmingham and Bedford, north of London, were raided at dawn as part of a continuing investigation into human trafficking involving the use of forged or false passports.
"Officers believe they have dismantled a very sophisticated and well-established criminal network involving hundreds of illegal immigrants from the Indian sub-continent," police said in a statement.
The police spokeswoman said the investigation, which began early this year, found that would-be immigrants were being charged £8,000 for passports and documents to give them passage into Britain via air, land or sea.
"They are not being smuggled in trucks, this is a very in-your-face operation," she said.
Police said that in some cases, it appeared that British citizens were selling their passports to the traffickers who then doctored them to fit the profile of the illegal immigrant. Officers believed the gang had a stockpile of passports that they altered on demand.
Five of the men were being held on suspicion of facilitating illegal entry into Britain while the sixth was suspected of being an illegal immigrant. No charges have yet been laid.