“This case displays the lengths people smugglers will go to"
Two men were jailed after they were caught smuggling Indian migrants crammed in a hidden compartment inside a van filled with used tyres.
Shafaz Khan and Choudhry Rashied, both from London, hid the four Indian men behind a stack of tyres in a purpose-built hide and attempted to bring them into the UK illegally.
In March 2019, they were stopped by Border Force at Newhaven Ferry Port.
Khan told officers that they were travelling back after a trip to Belgium and that the back of the van contained used tyres.
But a search of the vehicle uncovered the migrants hidden in squalid conditions in a hidden cabin behind the tyres with no access to clean air.
A Home Office investigation revealed the duo had hired the van solely for the purpose of people smuggling.
They had also built the hidden compartment.
Phone analysis showed the smugglers had assigned “burner” phones to each other to help conceal their crimes.
CCTV footage also showed Khan and Rashied meeting at a local cafe to plan the operation.
At Isleworth Crown Court, both were jailed for five years and three months each for facilitating a breach of UK immigration law.
Dame Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, said:
“This case displays the lengths people smugglers will go to to disguise their criminal activity.
“These smugglers exploited a group of individuals by putting them into an unsafe and unlawful situation for their own financial gain.
“Our skilled investigators are working tirelessly to protect our borders as part of our Plan for Change and that starts with dismantling the people smuggling networks who put lives at risk and undermine our border security.
“Alongside the major step up in enforcement action and integral co-operation with key partners we are also investing £150 million of funding into our new Border Security Command to disrupt the criminal smuggling gangs profiting from risking lives.”
Chris Foster, Immigration Enforcement Regional Lead, added:
“Both Khan and Rashied sold these vulnerable individuals a dream and promised them a safe journey and prosperous life in the UK, which was far from the truth.
“The people-smuggling gangs are playing with people’s lives and undermining our border security.”
Mr Foster commended the Border Force officers for detecting the migrants and said that without their intervention, Khan and Rashied would likely not have been arrested.
The sentences come as the government unveiled new measures designed to break up gangs that traffic migrants across the Channel.
New court orders mean that people trafficking suspects could be prevented from using a laptop or mobile phone, using social media, associating with certain people, or accessing their bank accounts.
The measures will be included in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which is expected to be introduced to Parliament later in January 2025.
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