Muhammad Zada (pictured), 43, co-ordinated at least five attempts to transport Iraqi-Kurds, including young children, into the UK from mainland Europe in 2017.
A fugitive who was the ringleader of a gang that smuggled migrants into the UK has been given a 20-year prison sentence in his absence.
Lorries in Calais, France, . The migrants were concealed in vehicles such as a refrigerated lorry where they were hidden amongst pallets packed with fruit and vegetables or in vans carrying bikes and furniture, which had hidden compartments for humans The judge said the vehicles could have been involved in road accidents and there was a risk the concealed compartments could have collapsed or the people inside could have been crushed by the bikes or furniture they were travelling with during the journeys.
'Mohammed Zada's offending was persistent, despite the repeated intervention of law enforcement. He used a variety of different forms of cover to conceal his criminality, including the use of multiple mobile telephones, legitimate businesses and the presence of children. He was stopped by French police at Calais on his second trip and eight migrants were discovered hidden in the van among furniture.Zada's associate Khalid Mahmud is set to be sentenced at a later hearing
In the days that followed, Zada and his lieutenants arranged for migrants to be hidden inside a campervan, as well as in vans among bicycle boxes and a shipment of mattresses.
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