People smuggler who moved migrants in lorries jailed

A people smuggler who was part of a gang trafficking migrants in lorry trailers has been jailed, while another man has received a suspended sentence.

Ta Quang Duc, 36, was convicted of smuggling 22 people on 16 occasions in August and September 2020.

The gang he was involved in used encrypted social media to communicate as they moved people via ferries or the Channel Tunnel, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Ta, of Norton Road in Reading, was jailed for eight years for people smuggling and money laundering, while Sarfaraz Sardarzehi, 58, was given a two year suspended sentence after a jury found he assisted on three occassions.

Ta was arrested near Leatherhead in Surrey while travelling to pay co-conspirators £56,000 in Kent.

Sardarzehi, of Southwark in London, was arrested in a car with men he admitted were illegal migrants, who investigators believed were linked to Ta's payments.

An NCA spokesperson said migrants who the pair helped to smuggle paid significant sums of money for the crossings and were kept in safe houses, mostly in Belgium, until space was available in a lorry.

The gang's encrypted social media used slang terms such as "siblings", "chicken", "pork" or "things" to refer to migrants; "dogs" to mean police; and "horses" to mean vehicles, the NCA spokesperson added.

Investigators said that despite their case covering a one-month timeframe, the gang is suspected of operating for much longer.

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