Four held on sham weddings
Four Jamaican women were arrested today on suspicion of taking part in sham marriages following raids in the Black Country and Birmingham.
Police and immigration officers carried out dawn raids on one address in Coseley and 10 in Birmingham.
The four women, who were all arrested in Birmingham, are alleged to have married British citizens so they could remain in the UK.
The raids were carried out by teams made up of 18 officers from West Midlands Police and the UK Border Agency.
Officials are continuing to search for another seven people who were not at home.
A UK Border Agency spokesman said: "All four women are believed to have tried to legitimise their stay in the UK by marrying a British citizen. All four originally came on visas which they overstayed."
The raids were based largely on intelligence provided by Venrick Clarke, who was last year jailed for nine years for masterminding a sham marriage scheme.
The 50-year-old fraudster from Smethwick arranged up to 40 sham marriages to help immigrants stay. A court heard that Clarke, of Vicarage Road, used drugs and money as a lure.
