The final convictions handed down by London’s Woolwich Crown Court on Wednesday follow a two-year investigation led by detectives of the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU).
The gang was “convicted of offences including conspiracy to assist in unlawful immigration, money laundering, and perverting the course of justice”, SEROCU said.
“This human trafficking operation was being led by 33-year-old Alan Hoger and 34-year-old Goran Ahmed – both from East Sussex,” the unit said. Both are Kurds.
Hoger was jailed for 10 years and Ahmed for eight.
“This gang took advantage of their links to the Middle East to exploit vulnerable people for financial gain, with no concern about putting their lives in danger,” SEROCU said.
“They targeted the Kurdish community and looked to make as much profit out of every individual they could exploit. Their only concern was their profit margins.”
The ringleaders were accused of setting up operating bases in several locations around the UK, including Hastings and St. Leonards in East Sussex for “their criminal enterprise”.
They also “had a nationwide network of customers, money launderers and criminal associates in places such as Bolton, Nottingham, Devon, Brighton, Eastbourne, and Hull”.
“Hoger had boasted of being a millionaire to his friends, as he laundered his profits from the organised crime group with help from his wife – through legitimate companies – back to the Kurdistan Region. Throughout this investigation, a total of £144,000 ($179,892) in cash was seized,” it said.
Over the course of several trials, courts heard the gang used its contacts across the UK, Europe, and Asia to move people to a holding point in southeast France and from there they were taken by taxi to Belgium where they would be hidden within lorries, to set to the UK by ferry.
“The victims would travel either in the lorry cab, on top of the cab in the wind deflector, or underneath the trailer on a pallet shelf. If they were detained in the UK, they would immediately claim asylum and be released to UK family members, who had paid the organised crime group between £8,000 and £10,000 per individual,” police said.
Other key members of the gang group included two Romanian nationals, Cristinel Samson, 50, and Ionut Cornila, 27, both lorry drivers who were handed prison sentences of five years and four years respectively.
“This case should serve as a clear warning to those involved in trafficking people into the UK. Be in no doubt, we have an extensive investigative network and a range of tactics to combat such criminal activity. We will seek them out and bring them before the courts.”
Europe has seen a massive influx of Middle East and North African migrants and refugees since 2014 as people tried to escape violence, injustice, and poverty brought about by war, corruption, and economic collapse.
The influx put pressure on the European Union’s principals of free movement and contributed to anti-immigrant sentiment. Without safe a legal passage, many migrants and refugees resorted to using criminal networks.
In February 2018, the UK busted a major Kurdish smuggling network accused of trafficking hundreds of Kurds from Iraq into Britain, according to the UK National Crime Agency (NCA).
There is no official data on the number of Kurds living in the UK as they are classified as Iraqis. Unofficial estimates put their number at around 200,000.
