2 NRIs in the tire-laden van have been charged
with migrant smuggling.

Los Angeles/Jan 08, 2025
NRIpress.club/Ramesh/ A.Gary Singh

Two men from London have been sentenced to over five years in prison after being caught smuggling migrants into the UK in a concealed compartment inside a van loaded with used tyres, the Home Office reported.

NRI Shafaz Khan, 55, from Feltham, and NRI Choudhry Rashied, 58, from Southall, were apprehended by Border Force officers at Newhaven Port in East Sussex in March 2019. The pair had hidden four Indian men behind a stack of tyres in a custom-built compartment designed to smuggle them into the UK illegally.

Both men, who are British nationals, were sentenced to five years and three months each at Isleworth Crown Court for facilitating a breach of UK immigration laws.

Khan claimed they were returning from Belgium with a load of used tyres. However, upon inspection, officers discovered the migrants in squalid and life-threatening conditions. According to Chris Foster, immigration enforcement lead for London, the men were found lying on a urine-soaked mattress with no access to fresh air, food, or water.

Foster praised the Border Force officers for their diligence, which prevented the smugglers from evading justice. "Without their intervention, these criminals would have succeeded in their exploitative and dangerous operation," he said.

A Home Office investigation revealed that the men had rented the van specifically for people smuggling and constructed the hidden compartment themselves. Evidence from phone records showed they had used burner phones to coordinate their illegal activities and avoid detection.
Dame Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, condemned their actions, highlighting the risks the smugglers had imposed on the migrants. "This case exposes the extreme measures people smugglers take to disguise their crimes. They exploited vulnerable individuals for financial gain, putting lives at risk in the process," she said.

Chris Foster further remarked that the smugglers had sold the migrants false promises of a safe journey and a better future in the UK, which was far from the grim reality they faced.
The Home Office reaffirmed its commitment to tackling people smuggling and commended the efforts of enforcement teams working to protect the UK’s borders.

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