A gang who trafficked vulnerable Slovakian women into the UK to sell them into sham marriages has been jailed for a total of 22 years and four months.

The six Slovak nationals, including a woman, were arrested after one of their victims reported she had been kept at a house in Abbey Road, Gravesend, before being sold for £4,500 as part of a sham marriage deal.

Roman Ziga, 27, – known by the nickname “Romeo” – his brother Jozef Ziga, 29, and Igor Boros, 44, were found guilty in August of recruiting four women in their home country.

The Ziga brothers were each jailed for six-and-a-half years and Boros was jailed for three-and-a-half years at the Old Bailey yesterday.

Tibor Suchy, 30, previously of Abbey Road, Gravesend, Rene Sana, 32, and Viktoria Sanova, 29, both of Granville Road, Gravesend, pleaded guilty to trafficking three women.

Suchy was jailed for 34 months, Sana was sentenced to two years and Sanova for 12 months.

The trio were previously convicted of their involvement in trafficking the fourth victim at a separate trial in 2013.

For that offence, Suchy was jailed at an earlier hearing for 10 years, later reduced to eight years on appeal, Sana for three years and Sanova for 16 months.

However, the jail terms imposed today by Judge Michael Topolski QC will not add any further time behind bars for Suchy, while Sana and Sanova have already served their sentences on remand.

The victims had been brought to the UK from Slovakia by the criminal network in order to marry Indian or Pakistani men, providing the men with the means to remain in the UK.

Det Con Keith McCormack, the investigating officer for the Met’s Trafficking and Kidnap Unit, said at the end of the 13-week trial of the Ziga brothers and Boros: “The victims were all vulnerable women, living in desperate conditions in Slovakia, whose circumstances ensured they could be easily exploited.

“Once in the UK, their ID was taken from them and, not knowing any English, they were trapped and unable to seek assistance. The traffickers treated these women like pieces of meat and planned to sell them. One of the victims was raped by the man she was sold to, and he was jailed for this.

“By working with our colleagues in the Slovak police, a network of dangerous individuals have been brought to justice, ensuring that they cannot carry on ruining the lives of more desperate women.”