Illegal immigrants arrested in major operation on Foleshill clothes factories

[dutchman]

The two clothing factories, Mystique and Viva, were raided by immigration officers on Tuesday November 15

Fourteen suspected illegal immigrants have been arrested after two clothes factories in a residential Coventry street were raided.

Teams of officers swooped on the two factories in Crabmill Lane, Paradise, Foleshill, to find a number of people working in the units.

Immigration officers arrested 14 Indian nationals who had all overstayed their visas during the joint operation with HMRC on Tuesday.

Staff questioned the individuals and checked if they have the right to live and work in the UK, and found they had either overstayed their visas or entered the country illegally.

At Mystique clothing factory 12 Indian nationals were arrested, and eight people are now currently awaiting deportation.

Six of those were men, aged 24-59, and had all overstayed their visas, and the other six were women aged 32-62, with five overstaying their visas and one working in breach of her visa conditions.

Five of the men and three of the women from Mystique were detained pending removal from the UK.

The other four must report regularly to Immigration Enforcement while further action is taken on their cases.

In the other clothing factory, Viva, officers arrested a 31-year-old Indian woman who was found to have overstayed her visa and a 43 year-old Indian man who had entered the UK illegally.

Both of them must regularly report to Immigration Enforcement while action is taken on their cases.

Carol Scarr, of the West Midlands Immigration Enforcement team, said: “This was a very successful operation leading to a high number of arrests by our team of specialised officers.

“We are determined to take action where businesses have not carried out right to work checks on staff, or individuals have not complied with our immigration laws.

“Using illegal labour is not victimless. It cheats the taxpayer, undercuts honest businesses and cheats legitimate job seekers of employment opportunities. It also exploits some of society’s most vulnerable people.

“All of our operations are intelligence led and I would encourage people with detailed and specific information about illegal immigration to contact us.”

Mystique could face a fine of up to £240,000 and Viva could be fined £40,000 as a result of the action.

They have both been served with notices warning that a financial penalty of up to £20,000 per illegal worker employed will be imposed unless they can demonstrate that appropriate right to work checks were carried out.

This includes providing a passport or Home Office document confirming permission to work.

[rebbonk]

It'll be interesting to see just how much any fines turn out to be.

Foleshill could keep the BA/Immigration and HMRC busy for a very long time if they had the manpower. - And the will!

[Melisandre]

Makes a change from the shops on the Foleshill Rd .