Ghanaians marrying drug addicts & prostitutes

...for paper
Five people are in police custody today after a sham marriage racket was smashed with raids in west Scotland and England.

The scam involved pairing off Scottish women - drug addicts and prostitutes - with West African men to get them permanent residency in the UK.

Police and immigration officers stormed homes in Paisley, Cambuslang and Reading at 6am.

Two men, aged 27 and 22, and a 26-year-old woman were detained following the raids in Paisley and Cambuslang.

Police said two other men, aged 33 and 35, were being held in the south of England.

The raids follow a seven-month investigation into bogus marriages between Scots women and men from Ghana and the Gambia.

It's understood the probe was sparked by a tip-off at the general registrars' office and the brides are all from the Glasgow area.

The five people being questioned are thought to be 'fixers' who arranged the marriages for Africans who entered the UK on tourist or student visas.

One man and one woman were taken into custody in two raids in Paisley, and a third man was detained at an address in Cambuslang.

Sources said the group charged thousands of pounds to arrange the marriages.

The African men would marry in Scotland but would immediately return to London before filling for divorce after two years, when they were granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

The raids follow the largest criminal inquiry by the Immigration Service in Scotland and the cases are expected to make Scottish legal history when they come to court.

Operation Warren was launched at 6am today with four simultaneous raids.

Twenty-four officers, split into three teams, were involved in the Scottish leg of the operation, which targeted key players in the ring.

One woman was detained following a raid on a ground-floor flat in Argyle Street, Paisley. Police and immigration staff spent 90 minutes searching the property before she was led away.