Harjit Singh Dhaliwal was stopped at the same checkpoint
Two men have been jailed for more than six years after they tried to illegally bring seven Indian migrants into the UK through the boots of two cars.
The migrants included women and children.
Palvinder Singh Phull was stopped at the UK border in Dover on July 8, 2018.
Officials discovered three Indian nationals claiming to be Afghan Sikhs in the boot of his hire car.
He was subsequently arrested.
Four days later, Harjit Singh Dhaliwal was stopped at the same checkpoint and four Indian nationals – also claiming to be Afghan Sikhs – were found hiding in the boot of his car.
Following an investigation by the Home Office and Financial Investigations (CFI) unit, Phull and Dhaliwal were found to be linked via mobile phone records.
At Canterbury Crown Court, the defendants pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration.
Palvinder Singh Phull, aged 48, of Hounslow, was jailed for three and a half years.
Harjit Singh Dhaliwal, aged 45, of Middlesex, was sentenced to three years and two months in prison.
After sentencing, Chris Foster, Deputy Director of Criminal and Financial Investigations at the Home Office, said:
“Today’s sentencing sends a clear message to those abusing our laws and borders: we will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone attempting to smuggle people into the UK.
“I would like to pay tribute to the hard work of my team, and their tireless efforts to tackle this type of crime.”
“We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to disrupt people smuggling gangs and make sure those who break our laws face the consequences.”
In May 2023, 16 people were convicted following an investigation into a London-based organised crime group that was involved in international money laundering and people smuggling.
Members of the gang smuggled £42 million in cash out of the UK, making hundreds of trips to Dubai between 2017 and 2019.
But flight analysis, evidence from cash declarations in Dubai and other material seized by the NCA showed the group had successfully transported far more.
In 2019, the same gang tried to smuggle 17 migrants – including five children and a pregnant woman – into the UK in the back of a van carrying tyres.
The van was intercepted by Dutch police before it could reach a ferry at the Hook of Holland.
The 16 gang members are due to be sentenced in a hearing beginning on September 11, 2023.
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