A group of six human traffickers, including 67-year-old Gurprit Singh Peter Kahlon of Indian heritage, has been convicted of smuggling hundreds of Iraqi-Kurdish migrants into the United Kingdom. The group charged migrants and transported them to the UK by disguising them in vehicles carrying mattresses and refrigerated vans.
In Short
- Gurprit Kahlon has been found guilty of smuggling hundreds into the UK.
- He and five others got migrants into the UK by hiding them in trucks.
- They used trucks with bicycle boxes, mattresses, and refrigerated trailers.
A 67-year-old Indian-origin man, Gurprit Singh Peter Kahlon, and five others have been found guilty of smuggling hundreds of migrants into the UK. The gang of six smuggled hundreds of Iraqi-Kurdish migrants from mainland Europe into the UK, charging between £5,000 and £10,000 per person by hiding them in vehicles, including refrigerated lorry trailers, and among mattresses. They also tricked legitimate drivers into unwittingly transporting migrants by secretly loading people into their vehicles.
The Teesside-based human traffickers — Gurprit Kahlon, 67, Muhammad Zada, 43, Pareiz Abdullah, 41, Khalid Mahmud, 50, Marek Sochanic, 39, and Bestoon Moslih, 41 — were found guilty on July 11 after a six-week trial.
Kahlon, a key associate of the gang’s figurehead, 43-year-old Muhammad Zada, was responsible for recruiting drivers and facilitating the movement of people into the country.
Footage captured by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers shows Zada inspecting a campervan hired by Kahlon to transport migrants from France.
The gang was involved in several smuggling operations, including the use of a campervan, refrigerated lorries carrying fruit and vegetables, vans with bicycle boxes, and shipments of mattresses to transport migrants from France and Belgium to the UK.
The gang is believed to have facilitated the illegal entry of hundreds of migrants into the UK.
Kahlon pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to facilitate breaches of immigration law at earlier court hearings, according to the NCA.
Zada and Sochanic were convicted in their absence, having absconded before the trial began. The police are working to locate the pair and bring them into custody.
Sentencing for all six men is set for September 20.
“Our extensive investigation has seen us uncover and dismantle a major people smuggling network with ambitions of bringing hundreds if not thousands, of people into the UK illegally,” stated NCA Branch Commander Martin Clarke.
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