AN EDMONTON man has been jailed for three years for his part in a huge people smuggling ring which illegally brought desperate Chinese migrants into Britain.

In total the gang, of which Halil Karakus, 28, of Grampian House, Plevna Road, Edmonton, was a member, and a connected Chinese network, have been jailed for 50 years, after charging up to £21,000 to smuggle illigal immigrants into the country.

Karakus was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court yesterday.

He was part of Turkish network which worked with Chinese people smugglers to traffic Chinese people into the UK in extremely cramped and dangerous conditions in lorries, boats and trains.

They were taken from China across Asia and Europe to the UK in a journey that could take up to 18 months and would cost the travellers £21,000 each.

Once the illegal immigrants had been smuggled into the UK, they would often disappear into established communities, avoiding detection by authorities.

The men were arrested after a series of dawn raids on 15 addresses in London and Birmingham in January.

Raids took place in Tottenham, Peckham, Leytonstone, Palmers Green, Enfield, Holloway and Kidderminster.

At the house in Peckham, 23 Chinese illegal immigrants were found living in cramped conditions. Officers from the Border and Immigration Agency have detained identified illegal immigrants.

The operation, codenamed Greensea, disrupted and dismantled two huge human smuggling networks - the biggest seen in London in recent years.

Detective Chief Inspector Matt Parkes, from the Metropolitan Police's Special Intelligence Section, said: "These criminals were operating in a highly lucrative and exploitative human smuggling business.

"Chinese nationals spent thousands to get to the UK at great personal risk and with no legal rights or protection.

"The Met’s Special Intelligence Section is committed to targeting criminal networks and bringing them to successful prosecution.”

The other men sentenced were Mustafa Gunduz, 49, of Regina Road, Finsbury Park, Musa Hurman, 49, of Florence Road, Holloway, Muhammed Ozen, 32, of Danbury Crescent, South Ockendon, Essex and Eser Tasci, 26, of Palmers Drive, Essex.

Previously other members of the two gangs were also sentenced, including 49-year-old Zeynel Yazici, of Connaught Gardens, Palmers Green who was jailed for four years.