Christian King and Henry Dunn, both 39, were jailed for nine years while James David, 31, got four and a half years, the Daily Mail reported. All three were charged with "conspiracy to facilitate unlawful entry into the U.K."

According to the indictment, the victims were Vietnamese aged between 14 and 23 who were trafficked through Europe to beaches in France, where they were put on an inflatable boat.

In November 2017 David and King traveled by boat through the English Channel to a beach near Boulogne in France where they met Dunn and picked up the four Vietnamese. In the U.K., David took the four to a vehicle parked in a port in Kent.

The police arrested David and King at the scene while Dunn turned himself in several months later.

The victims have been placed in the care of social services, U.K. weekly newspaper Croydon Guardian reported.

The sentencing comes in the background of the truck tragedy in which 39 Vietnamese were found dead in a refrigerated container truck near London last month. The remains of the 31 men and eight women were brought home last week.

British police have so far arrested seven people for their involvement in the truck tragedy.

In Vietnam, the police have arrested 11 people in Nghe An and Ha Tinh for alleged people smuggling.