An organised crime group who smuggled more than a dozen Middle Eastern nationals into the UK have been jailed for a combined 26 years.
Seven members of the British-Palestinian network were sentenced today (February 10) at Chelmsford Crown Court for conspiring to facilitate unlawful immigration through fraudulent documents.
Four women and three men, aged between 24 and 51, were caught following an investigation by the Home Office’s Criminal and Financial Investigations (CFI) unit.
The gang, including a woman from Enfield and man from Tottenham, smuggled at least 14 migrants into the UK from December 2017 to December 2018, including people from Palestine, Kuwait and Syria.
Zahra Mohammad, 30, of Enfield, was jailed for four years.
Ismail Hussein, 48, of Tottenham, was sentenced to six years.
Others in the gang who were sent to jail are Firdos Imitiaz Ahmed, 29, of Feltham, and Moussa Aoun, 24, from Shepherd’s Bush, who both received four-year sentences.
Zarina Abdulla, 51, of Leicester, was sentenced to three years and Amna Tarmahomed, 28, of Leicester, and Micaiah Marley, 29, of Watford, were jailed for two years and six months.
Micaiah Marley plead guilty to conspiracy to facilitate the entry into the UK of asylum seekers and the remaining six defendants were found guilty of the same offence at trial.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said: “Today’s sentences show that we will stop at nothing to tackle the despicable smuggling gangs and ensure they are brought to justice.
“Thanks to our specialist teams who work tirelessly to dismantle these international criminal networks, the smugglers are now behind bars.
“No one should be putting their lives in the hands of smuggling gangs by attempting to enter the UK illegally, which is why we will shortly introduce new legislation to ensure that anyone doing so is detained and swiftly returned home or to a safe third country.”
Investigators found the criminal network had access to around 240 European ID cards and passports, the majority of these were French documents, however they also included Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and British documents.
The gang organised 26 flights into the UK, of which 11 resulted in 14 undocumented migrants seeking asylum, three resulted in the facilitators being arrested and 12 flights were unsuccessful attempts.
Members of the network, which was active across Europe including in Belgium, France and Spain, also carried out two attempts through the border at Coquelles in France and Hoek van Holland in the Netherlands.
Their crimes started to unravel when Border Force officers stopped Firdos Ahmed at Harwich Port, who was carrying a French ID card in someone else’ name, Scotland Yard said.
A subsequent search of her phone found a collection of fraudulent documents and messages with other members of the gang, including her mother, Zarina Abdulla.
Stuart Stokes, assistant director at the criminal and financial investigation unit, said: “CFI officers are working night and day to dismantle organised crime groups such as this. We will leave no stone unturned when it comes to investigating suspected people smugglers and bringing them before the courts.”
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