Five-Brit Gang Busted for Smuggling Migrants in Chilled Lorry
A ruthless criminal gang has been exposed for smuggling migrants into the UK hidden inside a refrigerated truck at Portsmouth port. The five-member ring was caught after a four-year National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation that included a high-stakes surveillance operation.
Undercover Sting at Portsmouth Port
On 11 March 2019, NCA agents tailed a VW Touran to a run-down industrial estate in West Sussex. The car met a lorry driven by 31-year-old Romanian Marinel Danut Palage, who had just ferried a shipment of spinach from Spain via Caen, France. Hidden among the produce were at least three stowaways trying to sneak into the UK.
The migrants were shuffled into two vehicles at a roadside stop. The NCA intercepted one car, a Vauxhall Astra on the A34, revealing two Iraqi siblings, aged 18 and 13, driven by smuggler Mariwan Mustafa, 33.
The second ride, an Audi A3, was stopped on the M3, with a 30-year-old Iraqi woman found inside. Palage tried to make a run for it but was caught. Searching his lorry uncovered £34,500 in cash and £7,000 in euros and sterling stashed behind a tachograph panel.
Ringleader on the Run After Arrest
The VW Touran was later caught at Liphook services on the A3, driven by alleged gang boss Goran Jalal, 37, from Bradford. Jalal fled after his arrest and remains at large. Kamaran Kader, 44, also from Bradford, was found in the passenger seat.
A deep dive into phone records linked other gang members and uncovered at least two more smuggling runs into Portsmouth earlier that year. Middlesbrough man Pshtewan Ghafour, 37, was traced travelling to Portsmouth with Jalal and Kader on key nights. Fingerprints from Ghafour and Kader were found on money bags seized from Palage’s truck. Evidence also tied Manchester men Jamal Saied, 38, and Hemin Salih, 37, to the crime.
Justice Served – But Two Fugitives Still Wanted
After a month-long trial at Bournemouth Crown Court, Palage and Ghafour were convicted of conspiracy to facilitate illegal immigration. Kamaran Kader pleaded guilty earlier and is awaiting sentencing. Saied and Mustafa were also found guilty, while Salih, who fled before trial, was convicted in absentia. Sentencing is set for April.
NCA Branch Commander Richard Harrison: “This people smuggling group were content to put vulnerable migrants, including children, in the back of refrigerated lorries for hours on end during dangerous Channel crossings. It’s clear they profited with zero regard for lives.”
Warrants have been issued for the arrest of Jalal and Salih. Anyone with info should call the NCA on 0370 496 7622 or Crimestoppers anonymously at 0800 555 111.
