three smugglers sentenced to one to four years in prison

Three smugglers were sentenced to terms ranging from one to four years in prison by the Boulogne-sur-Mer criminal court on Monday, December 6. Justice estimates that they participated in the crossing of the Channel of nearly 530 migrants in a month and a half, between the end of June and the beginning of August 2021, generating a turnover of more one million euros, reports France Bleu Nord.

The men – a Syrian and two Iraqi Kurds – were arrested while driving a car around Calais, in which police found buoys and a person preparing to cross the Channel. Two of them were first convicted for these facts.

The investigation continues with the discovery of numerous videos, including thanks from migrants and a video posted on the TikTok social network in which one of the suspects appears to be promoting these operations. The police also find a notebook containing more than 150 names and indications on the age of the migrants – “baby” in particular – as well as amounts.

Justice therefore considered that, if they are not the organizers of a network, they are intermediaries, handlers, and therefore smugglers. The defendants burst into tears several times during their trial and denied the facts. One of their lawyers recalled that some “little hands” smugglers did this to afford a trip to the British coast themselves.