By IANS
London : In a series of raids, the police have arrested 15 people for helping illegal immigrants from India to enter Britain by abusing the visa system, official sources here said.
According to Scotland Yard, raids were conducted at nine addresses across London this week in connection with what it called the "facilitation of illegal immigrants from India to Britain through abuse of the visa system".
During the raids, the police seized counterfeit documents, false identities and more than 10,000 pounds in cash from three retail addresses and six homes raided in Southall, Edgware and Langley.
Of those arrested, eight were held for making false instruments and facilitating illegal immigrants into Britain, while seven were arrested for immigration offences.
Officers from the Met Police, The Regional Assets Recovery Agency, the Border and Immigration Agency, the Immigration Police Support Unit and specialist dogs carried out the raids as part of Operation Maxim.
Nick Downing, head of the Organised Immigration Crime Team within Operation Maxim, said: "The operation has successfully disrupted a criminal network that we believe were responsible for the illegal facilitation of immigrants from India to Britain."
Operation Maxim deals with organised crime against Britain's immigration system and aims to tackle human smuggling, human trafficking, counterfeit passport and document factories and fake weddings.