Gang who smuggled people from UK into France jailed

A gang who smuggled people into France from the UK by hiding them in lorries passing through Dover have been jailed.

The gang of 21 people were sentenced to a combined total of 84 years, said the National Crime Agency (NCA), which investigated 10 different smuggling runs between July 2025 and January 2026.

The migrants paid around £1,400 to enter France and most were in the UK legally at the time but were trying to avoid restrictions on entering the EU, an NCA spokesperson said.

Shuhal Ahmed, Robiul Islam and Qasim Jan were the latest members to be sentenced on Wednesday at Canterbury Crown Court.

In January, the NCA found an operation where 23 people were taken from London to a location near Whitstable, where they loaded onto a lorry bound for Dover.

The court heard how Ahmed, 44, was one of the heads of the East London-based gang and would charge people in return for helping them to avoid border and immigration checks to enter France illegally.

Taxi driver Islam, 50, would then drive mostly Pakistani and Bangladeshi migrants from London to Kent, where they would plan the channel crossings.

Ahmed was given eight and a half years in prison, while Islam was given a five year sentence and Jan, 55, another taxi driver, was sentenced to four years in prison.

Senior investigating officer John Turner said: "Our investigation has seen the entire criminal network dismantled, from the organisers right down to the drivers employed to transport migrants illegally.

"I hope it sends out a warning to those who would consider getting involved and think there is money to be made from smuggling people in either direction across the Channel.

"The chances of getting caught have never been higher, it simply isn't worth it."

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