Three members of an East London-based people-smuggling network have been jailed after helping migrants travel from the UK to France concealed in lorries, bringing the combined sentences imposed on the 21-strong gang to 84 years.
The National Crime Agency said its investigation uncovered 10 separate smuggling runs between July 2025 and January 2026. The operation used a route through London and Kent before the migrants were hidden in freight vehicles travelling through Dover.
Those being moved paid about £1,400 each for the journey, according to the agency. Most were legally present in the UK at the time, but were seeking to get around restrictions on entering the European Union, an NCA spokesperson said.
Three latest convictions
Shuhal Ahmed, Robiul Islam and Qasim Jan were sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on Wednesday. Their hearings followed earlier prosecutions involving other members of the network, which the NCA said operated as a coordinated gang rather than as a series of unrelated crossings.
The court heard that Ahmed, aged 44, was one of the organisation’s leaders. He charged migrants for assistance intended to bypass border and immigration checks on the journey into France. His alleged role placed him at the centre of the arrangements, linking those seeking passage with the people responsible for transport and loading.
Islam, a 50-year-old taxi driver, was responsible for taking mainly Pakistani and Bangladeshi migrants from London to Kent. There, arrangements were made for them to be placed on lorries travelling towards the Channel crossing.
How the operation worked
In January, investigators identified an incident in which 23 people were taken from London to a site near Whitstable. The group was then loaded on to a lorry bound for Dover, according to evidence heard by the court.
The case illustrates the practical chain required to move people clandestinely: recruitment and payment in the capital, transport to the Kent coast, access to commercial freight and an attempt to pass through international border controls without the necessary permission.
| Detail | Information released by the NCA |
|---|---|
| Network | 21 people sentenced |
| Combined punishment | 84 years |
| Runs investigated | 10, between July 2025 and January 2026 |
| Typical payment | About £1,400 |
| Largest incident cited | 23 people taken to a site near Whitstable |
Border security consequences
The case places renewed focus on the vulnerability of freight routes to organised smuggling. Lorries passing through Dover are part of legitimate commercial traffic, meaning criminal groups can attempt to exploit the volume and speed of cross-Channel movements while concealing the people they are transporting.
It also demonstrates the division of labour within such networks. The information released by the NCA identifies a London-based organiser, a driver moving people towards Kent and others involved in getting migrants on to freight vehicles. Each stage creates a potential point for detection, but also allows responsibility to be distributed across several participants.
For those being transported, concealment in a lorry carries obvious risks, although the NCA has not disclosed details of any injuries or dangerous conditions in these journeys. The agency has also not provided the sentences imposed on Ahmed, Islam and Jan individually in the material available.
- The NCA investigated 10 alleged journeys over a six-month period.
- The gang charged migrants approximately £1,400 for passage to France.
- Three people were moved in the January incident identified near Whitstable.
- The latest sentences bring the total punishment across the network to 84 years.
The prosecutions represent a substantial enforcement response, but the evidence described by investigators also shows how established transport links can be adapted for clandestine migration. The NCA’s findings leave the central operational question clear: preventing further journeys will depend not only on prosecuting organisers, but on identifying the vehicles, staging locations and intermediaries used before people reach the port.
