FIVE people are in police custody today after a sham marriage racket was smashed with raids in west Scotland and England.

The scam involved pairing off Scottish women - drug addicts and prostitutes - with West African men to get them permanent residency in the UK.

Police and officers of the new Border and Immigration Agency stormed homes in Paisley, Cambuslang and Reading at 6am in Operation Warren.

Two men, aged 27 and 22, and a 26-year-old woman were detained following the raids on two addresses in Paisley and one in Cambuslang.

The woman was detained in a raid on a ground-floor flat in Argyle Street, Paisley.

Officers spent 90 minutes searching the property before she was led away.

Police said two other men, aged 33 and 35, from western Africa were being held in the south of England but would be taken to Paisley for questioning later today.

Twenty-four officers, split into three teams, were involved in the Scottish leg of the operation, which targeted key players in the ring.

The raids followed a seven-month investigation into bogus marriages between Scots women and men from Ghana and the Gambia.

It's understood the probe was sparked by a tip-off at the general registrars' office and the brides are all from the Glasgow area.

The five being questioned are thought to be fixers' who arranged the marriages for Africans who entered the UK on tourist or student visas.

Sources said the group charged thousands of pounds to arrange the marriages.

The African men would marry in Scotland but would immediately return to London before filling for divorce after two years, when they were granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

The raids follow the largest criminal inquiry by the immigration services in Scotland and the cases are expected to make Scottish legal history when they come to court.

Chief Inspector Jim Boyle, head of the seconded unit at the Border and Immigration Agency, said: "The group behind this lucrative scam targeted the most vulnerable women in society, including drug abusers and females in the vice trade."

Phil Taylor, regional director of the agency, said: "We believe this is one of the most significant sham marriage scams in recent years."

The five are likely to be charged with immigration and common law offences, including breaches of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Act.