London: A six-member gang including NRIs (Non-Residential Indians) has been jailed for five years on the charge of smuggling in over 400 people, mostly Indians, into Britain.

The gang provided "club class" service to the illegal migrants while smuggling them into Britain and charged 8,000 pounds per head, the Canterbury Crown Court was informed.

Sentencing the men on Friday, Judge Ellison Nash criticized as "scandalous" the fact that in 2001 when various members of the gang were detained, immigration officers at three English Channel ports failed to collate information that could have brought the smuggling to an early end.

The gang was busted following a joint British and French surveillance operation. Profits from the smuggling operation were so large that one of the leaders of the gang, Shakean Chagal, 29, bought a Ferrari and a Range Rover.

Other gang members were Talbinder Gill, his brother Kalbinder Gill, 30, both from Walsall, Paul Slater-Mason, 38, Lee Ludbrook, 43, from Moxley and Gurdip Singh Dosanjh, 39, from Willenhall. All pleaded guilty of conspiracy to facilitate illegal immigration at an earlier hearing.

The court was told the gang used a French safe house before bringing the immigrants across the Channel in ferries. During the travel the illegal migrants were "fed and watered". The smuggling went on for at least two years before the joint operation cracked the ring a year ago.

"The immigrants came mainly from Punjab and they or their families reportedly sold land and businesses in their villages to reach the UK via safe homes in Paris," Tony Poseer, prosecuting lawyer said.

Authorities are now trying to seize assets worth more than 2 lakh pounds, which Chagal accumulated through the scam.