A gang smuggled children as young as five in refrigerated lorries travelling to France from the UK in an unusual reversal of illegal Channel crossings. Gang leader, Azize Benaniba, 41, from Algeria, and his accomplices brought French-speaking migrants from North Africa to the UK on tourist visas.
After arriving in Britain, they were charged £1,200, loaded into the backs of refrigerated and unrefrigerated lorries and smuggled into France through Dover, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA). More than 20 smuggling runs were made between February and October 2023.
Video found on the phone of one gang member shows terrified migrants screaming for help in the back of a trailer. The NCA said hundreds were loaded into vehicles.
The people smuggling operation was uncovered when French border police found 58 migrants inside a lorry in Calais after arriving from Britain.
An investigation was launched in February 2023, after which a series of smuggling attempts were thwarted by NCA officers.
One such attempt saw 39 migrants, including women and children, loaded into an airtight refrigerated lorry trailer in a layby in Sandwich, Kent. The group was rescued when NCA officers swept in.
The gang’s ringleaders were arrested during raids in north London in March last year.
Benaniba was jailed for 12 years and 11 months at Isleworth Crown Court on Thursday (July 17).
Mohammed Bechkit, 36, Mahmoud Haidous, 52, Abed Karrouz, 30, Amor Ghabbari, 32, and Mohamed Abdelhadi, 50, organised the runs and hired a network of drivers.
Mohamed Bouriche, 43, was responsible for transporting people to rendezvous locations where they would be loaded into the lorries.
Bechkit was jailed for 10 years four months; Haidous was sentenced to 13 years six months; Karrouz eight years and 10 months; Ghabbari nine years; Abdelhadi seven years and three months and Bouriche seven years six months.
John Turner, Senior Investigating Officer at the NCA, said: “These smugglers had no care for the safety or wellbeing 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.”
He said the NCA investigation safeguarded hundreds of migrants who were put in serious danger.
Janine Baugh, Specialist Prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “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.”