The men, aged between 19 and 24, were charged with "organizing illegal entry into Vietnam." The sentences came in the context of Vietnam strengthening its crackdown against illegal Chinese arrivals amid the fresh Covid-19 outbreak it has been experiencing for more than a week now.

Voong A Sui, 23, identified as the ringleader, and his younger brother Voong A Hay were jailed for six years while four others received jail terms of between two and five years.

Investigators said that while working in Chinese city of Dongxing, Sui got acquainted with a Chinese man who hired him on June 9 to illegally bring a group of Chinese nationals from Dongxin into Mong Cai Town in the northern province of Quang Ninh, which shares a border with China. For each Chinese illegally brought into Vietnam, Sui would receive 4,000 yuan ($573).

On June 9 and 10, Sui and his accomplices used rafts to ferry six Chinese nationals across the river at the border and then drove them on motorbikes to Mong Cai, from where they would move to other parts of Vietnam.

On June 10, they were caught red handed by border guards in Quang Ninh.

Speaking at a regular press meeting Monday, Chief of Office of the Ministry of Public Security, Major General To An Xo said that the country has recently witnessed a rising number of illegal entry from neighboring countries, mainly China.

Since June, local public security forces and border guards have uncovered 21 cases involving 177 illegal Chinese immigrants, and launched criminal investigations against 19 Vietnamese and several Chinese in five cases.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc earlier ordered the Ministry of Public Security to investigate the illegal entry of foreigners to Vietnam, following confirmation of the first Covid-19 community transmission in 100 days on July 25.