A haulier has been jailed for his role in smuggling migrants between the UK and France.
Romanian national Nicusor Lacatus, 53, recruited other HGV drivers willing to move migrants across the border for a UK-based gang, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).
He was given a six-year prison term at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday after admitting facilitating illegal immigration at an earlier hearing.
"This case should serve as a warning," said NCA branch commander Saju Sasikumar, adding: "We know crime groups try to recruit HGV drivers... but the penalties for getting involved can be harsh and life-changing."
The agency said it arrested Lacatus in November at an M20 service station in Folkestone, Kent, as he prepared to leave the UK in his van.
One of the drivers he recruited, 40-year-old Romanian national Sebastian Haprian, had been stopped two months earlier in Dover carrying 22 migrants in the back of his lorry.
Cash totalling £3,600 was also found and phone evidence showed he had been in contact with Lacatus in the build-up to the incident, according to the NCA.
Haprian was handed a three-year prison sentence in December after admitting his role in the scheme.
Sasikumar said smugglers operated in both directions across the Channel and often drivers transported migrants into and out of the UK.
Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.
Related internet links
LATEST POSTS
- 1
Blood pressure drug recalled for possible cross-contamination - 2She just became the first wheelchair user to travel to space
- 3US FDA grants market authorization to six on! PLUS nicotine pouch products
- 4Find the Historical backdrop of the Modern Unrest: Changing Society and Innovation
- 5Knesset FADC extends emergency draft for 280,000 IDF reservists until January 1
- As cases of a rare, deadly infection rise, doctors worry fewer teens will get vaccinated
- As tetanus vaccination rates decline, doctors worry about rising case numbers
- Jersey's wellbeing score is below UK and France
- Why do people have baby teeth and adult teeth?
- Voting begins in Uganda’s presidential election during internet shutdown and polling station delays
- Figure out how to Detect the Best Rooftop Substitution Choices
- Hundreds of Gazans evacuated from Strip for medical treatment - COGAT
- Flourishing in Retirement: Individual Accounts of Post-Profession Satisfaction
- How much would you pay to meet a Real Housewife? At BravoCon, the limit does not exist.
