TWO members of a Birmingham-based crime gang have pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle Albanian nationals into the UK through the channel tunnel.
Lee Anderson, 46, of Titania Close, Frankley, and his passenger Jason Cowley, 44, of Borrowdale Road, Northfield, pleaded guilty to conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of the UK immigration law by a non EU person.
Canterbury Crown Court heard how, on March 12 2015, the pair were arrested after Border Force officers found two adults and a child, all Albanian nationals, hidden in the boot of their car at the UK Control Zone in Coquelles, France.
The convictions follow guilty pleas by four other members of the same gang.
On August 2 2015, Gillian Barker, 47, of Lismore Drive, Harborne, was arrested at the same controls when officers found two Albanian men hidden in the boot.
On both occasions, the Albanians found in the cars were handed to the French authorities.
The cases were passed to Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation (CFI) team who, following investigations, linked both smuggling attempts to three further individuals.
On October 13 2015, officers searched the homes of Ilir Hani, 44, of Malins Road, Harborne, Eduart Karaj, 39, of Icknield Port Road, Edgbaston, and Vullnet Karaj, 41, of Great Colmore Street, Birmingham,
Travel and telephone records linked the three to the two smuggling detections and investigations also showed Eduart Karaj and Vullnet Karaj were following Anderson and Cowley in a separate car at the first detection to make sure it got through safely. The car used by Barker had also previously been driven by Karaj and Karaj on March 12 2015 when in convoy with Anderson and Cowley and was previously owned by Vullnet Karaj.
Hani, Karaj and Karaj were all arrested on suspicion of conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration.
Eduart Karaj, Jason Cowley, Lee Anderson and Gillian Barker all entered guilty pleas at the beginning of the trial on August 7 and 8, 2017.
Ilir Hani and Vullnet Karaj pleaded not guilty but were convicted after a five day trial, they will all be sentenced on September 18.
Assistant Director David Fairclough, from Immigration Enforcement Criminal and Financial Investigation, said: “It is clear this gang tried to organise these smuggling attempts to line their own pockets and gave little or no thought to the safety of the people, including a child, crammed into a confined space.
“This was a co-ordinated effort by the gang but our officers worked tirelessly to sift through the evidence that uncovered their criminal enterprise.
“I hope that this case serves as a warning to anyone else contemplating this kind of criminality. We will catch you and bring you before the courts.”
Anyone with any information about suspected immigration abuse can contact Crimestoppers at www.crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling 0800 555 111.
