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Indian-origin man found guilty of human trafficking in UK
The group charged between US$5450 and US$10,901 (£5,000 and £10,000) per person, using various methods to conceal migrants.
Pictured (L-R): Mohammed Zada, Pareiz Abdullah, Marek Sochanic (bottom) Gurprit Singh Peter Khalon, Khalid Mahmud and Bestoon Moslih. / National Crime Agency
A 67-year-old Indian-origin man along with five other accomplices, has been found guilty of smuggling hundreds of Iraqi-Kurdish migrants into the UK.
Gurprit Singh Peter Kahlon and his group charged between US$5450 and US$10,901 (£5,000 and £10,000) per person. They used various methods to conceal migrants, including hiding them in refrigerated lorry trailers and in mattresses. They also duped legitimate drivers into transporting migrants by secretly loading people into their vehicles.
The human trafficking ring, which operated out of Teesside, included Kahlon, Muhammad Zada, 43, Pareiz Abdullah, 41, Khalid Mahmud, 50, Marek Sochanic, 39, and Bestoon Moslih, 41. They were found guilty on July 11 following a six-week trial.
Kahlon, a key associate of the gang's leader, Muhammad Zada, was tasked with recruiting drivers and facilitating the smuggling operations. National Crime Agency (NCA) officers captured footage showing Zada inspecting a campervan hired by Kahlon for transporting migrants from France.
The gang's smuggling operations included using campervans, refrigerated lorries carrying produce, vans with bicycle boxes, and shipments of mattresses to move migrants from France and Belgium into the UK. They are believed to have illegally brought hundreds of migrants into the country.
Kahlon admitted to one count of conspiring to facilitate breaches of immigration law in earlier court hearings, as reported by the NCA. Zada and Sochanic were convicted in absentia, having absconded before the trial commenced. Authorities are actively seeking to locate and apprehend the fugitives. Sentencing for all six men is scheduled 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.
“Zada and his organised crime group didn’t care about safety and well being of the human beings they were trafficking. They were willing to put them in dangerous environments like refrigerated lorries, all for a quick payday,” he added.
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