CUSTOMERS dropping in for a bottle of Chardonnay at the Rajan Wine Centre could never have known what they were buying into.

Behind the facade of a thriving business - built on the sweat of an Asian immigrant made good - lay a sinister secret.

Kashmir Singh Nanan's mini-empire of off licences, greengrocers and restaurants was built primarily on the illegal trade of human beings.

Police say Nanan was the North-East's Number One dealer in illegal immigrants - and almost certainly the ringleader for the international group responsible for dealings in human misery worth an estimated £6m.

At Newcastle Crown Court yesterday, it emerged the 36-year-old father-of-two was himself an illegal immigrant to Britain about ten years ago - a status that has only changed with his marriage to an English woman in 1992.

The reasons for his involvement in the illicit, if ultimately profitable, trade are murky, but the National Crime Squad responsible for his capture know the consequences.

Detective Inspector Michael Fishwick, who led the investigation, said: "The main facilitator of this operation was Nanan. He was not only the number one man in the North-East but we would consider him very important on a European scale.

"The people smuggled into Germany, via India and several former Eastern Bloc countries, were found in absolutely terrible conditions.

"There were 21 of them crammed into the back of a lorry among its legitimate load of exhibition equipment.

"They had only been in the lorry for a few hours, but they must have suffered.

"It's not just the transport that offers this kind of misery. To get as far as Germany, all the way from northern India, they would have to pay the trafficking ring all the way.

"That means they would have worked in curry houses and hotels in the underground labour market, often for as little as just 60 pence a week."

Despite a clear language barrier, illustrated by his reliance on an interpreter in court, Nanan quickly built up a mini chain of Rajan Wine Centres in Consett, Birtley and Gateshead after his arrival in the early 1990s.

Det Insp Fishwick said: "His businesses have been set up by the proceeds of the smuggling ring. We have even found that he might have up to five illegal immigrants working for him.

"All his assets and benefits are likely to be seized when a financial investigation finds out where they are."