Shocking footage shows terrified asylum seekers screaming for help in an airtight lorry as smugglers attempt to cross the border.
Seven members of a people smuggling ring have been jailed today for their part in loading the people into lorry trailers and attempting to take them from the UK to France.
Filmed by one of the members, the distressing videos show some of the trailers plunged into darkness as babies wail and women scream for help.
Some also show people topless, and others lying on top of suitcases stashed away in the lorries.
Led by 41-year-old Algerian Azize Benaniba, the gang brought migrants of North African origin into the country on tourist visas.
They would then charge them up to £1,200 to smuggle them back into France via Dover, with more than 20 runs identified between February and October 2023.
One attempt saw 39 migrants, including children, loaded into an airtight refrigerated lorry trailer at a lay-by in Sandwich.
Some of them, including one of the children, required medical attention.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) launched its investigation on 21 February 2023, after 58 migrants were discovered by French border police hidden inside a lorry at Calais having arrived from the UK.
By the start of 2024, the NCA had identified key members at all levels of the organised crime group.
The ringleaders were all arrested during a coordinated strike at properties in North London on 20 March 2024.
Benaniba was jailed for 12 years and 11 months at Isleworth Crown Court, with Bechkit jailed for 10 years and four months.
Mahmoud Haidous, 52, received 13-and-a-half years, Abed Karrous, 30, was given eight years and 10 months, Amor Ghabbari, 32, was jailed for nine years, Mohamed Abdelhadi, 50, seven years and three months, and Mohamed Bouriche, 43, seven-and-a-half years.
John Turner, NCA senior investigating officer, said: “These smugglers had no care for the safety or well-being of the people they crammed into lorry trailers – their only concern was making money.
“We’ve seen the fatal consequences of this crime type, as migrants have sadly lost their lives being smuggled across borders on land and at sea.
“Our thorough investigation has safeguarded hundreds of migrants who were put in serious danger, and has now led to jail terms for 12 members of a prolific people smuggling network.
“These criminal networks treat human beings like commodities, and we know the gangs and drivers involved in outbound smuggling are often involved in inbound smuggling too.
“Tackling organised immigration crime is a key priority for the NCA, and alongside our international law enforcement partners, we are relentless in our efforts to dismantle these networks wherever they operate.”
Janine Baugh, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, added:
“This was a highly organised group which tried to smuggle migrants to France more than 20 times.
“They put the lives of people at risk – often in inhumane conditions – just to profit off others. We presented the court with a video of people screaming to be let out of a trailer, which demonstrates these poor conditions.
“The Crown Prosecution Service will continue to work with our partners at home and overseas and play a vital role in the Border Security Command in order to bring those involved in organised immigration crime to justice.”
