© thehindu.com2025 Annual Report | Overall crime dips marginally in Cyberabad
A 29-year-old Indian national was arrested in Birmingham on Monday as part of a joint investigation by the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) and West Midlands Police into the advertising of people smuggling services on social media.
The man was detained at an address on Holyhead Road in the Handsworth area of Birmingham and is suspected of working on behalf of an organised crime network that transported migrants concealed in the backs of lorries. He was arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration and remains in custody, where he is being questioned by investigators.
Officers seized multiple electronic devices during the operation, which are now being examined as part of the ongoing probe. Following the raid, another man was also arrested for being in the UK illegally and was handed over to immigration authorities.