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
Dark matter may be made of pieces of giant, exotic objects — and astronomers think they know how to look for them - 2Artemis II astronauts say they're "ready to go" for moon launch
- 3Old food pyramid vs. RFK Jr.'s new food pyramid. See what's different.
- 4IDF strikes Hamas terror cell operating near Israeli troops in northern Gaza
- 510 High priority Contraptions for Tech Aficionados
- Relive NASA's historic Artemis 2 launch to the moon in these stunning photos
- Ukraine proved this drone-killer works. Now, the West is giving it a shot.
- How 2025 became the year of comet: The rise of interstellar 3I/ATLAS, an icy Lemmon and a cosmic SWAN
- Antivirus Programming for Exhaustive Security
- ONE returns to Red Sea with new service
- Why some African countries are prone to military takeovers
- Russia earning billions from Hormuz blockade, German trade body says
- She's been a Bond girl and a mutant. Now she's grappling with Hollywood's obsession with 'eternal youth.'
- Chinese construction workers in Israel: 'I’d rather be bombed than live in poverty'
