Gangster behind the deadly global trade in Vietnamese migrants

From a dingy flat above a Brussels pizza parlour, Vo Van Hong charged £30,000 a time to traffic people to Europe, using a network of corrupt taxi drivers to transport them. Among his victims were some of the 39 migrants found dead in a shipping container in Essex

Vo Van Hong was arrested for his role in people smuggling operations, some of which proved fatal for his victims
Vo Van Hong was arrested for his role in people smuggling operations, some of which proved fatal for his victims
ARNE FRANCK
Dipesh Gadher
The Sunday Times

Time finally ran out for Vo Van Hong when police smashed down the door of his dingy flat above the Pizzeria Milano in the largely immigrant Anderlecht district of Brussels. As Hong, 45, watched from a threadbare mattress on the floor, officers discovered six passports that he used — four Vietnamese and two Chinese — at least three iPhones stuffed into a shoulder bag, and suitcases full of other people’s identity papers.

For almost two years the rented property, nestled among African grocery stores and Arab eateries, had been used as a safe house for Vietnamese migrants who had been trafficked across the world and were awaiting passage to Britain.

Among its inhabitants were some of the 39 victims of the October 2019 Essex lorry