Major People Smuggling Gang Busted After Four-Year NCA Sting
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has smashed a ruthless people smuggling network after a four-year investigation and surveillance operation. The gang, operating out of West Sussex and other UK hotspots, was caught red-handed moving illegal migrants, including children, hidden in lorries and cars.
High-Speed Chase and Hidden Cash Haul
Officers tracked the gang on March 11, 2019, watching as a VW Touran met a lorry driven by Romanian Marinel Danut Palage, 31, at an industrial estate in Runcton, West Sussex. The lorry had just rolled in from France carrying a cargo of spinach – but also at least three stowaway migrants.
The migrants were shuffled into two other vehicles nearby. The NCA stopped a Vauxhall Astra on the A34 carrying two Iraqi children, aged 18 and 13, and arrested the driver, gang member Mariwan Mustafa, 33. Another vehicle, an Audi A3 on the M3, contained a 30-year-old Iraqi woman. Palage tried to flee but was nabbed near the cab, where officers found plastic bags stuffed with £34,500 in cash. Another £7,000 in euros and pounds were stashed behind a tachograph panel.
Mastermind Flees – But Phones Crack the Case
Later that morning, the VW stopped near Liphook. Goran Jalal, 37, of Bradford, the alleged ringleader, was in contact with Palage to arrange the meet-up but fled NCA arrest and is now wanted. Kamaran Kader, 44, also from Bradford, was arrested in the passenger seat.
Phone and forensic evidence, including fingerprints on money bags, linked several gang members across cities including Middlesbrough and Manchester. Investigators uncovered at least two other smuggling incidents into portsmouth/" title="Portsmouth" data-wpil-keyword-link="linked">Portsmouth earlier that year.
Court Convictions and Ongoing Manhunt
Following a four-week trial at Bournemouth Crown Court, Palage and Pshtewan Ghafour, 37, of Middlesbrough, were found guilty of conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration. Kamaran Kader pled guilty earlier. Jamal Saied, 38, and Mariwan Mustafa were also convicted. Hemin Salih, 37, absconded before trial but was convicted in his absence. Sentencing for Palage, Ghafour, and Kader is set for April 13, with Saied, Mustafa, and Salih due on April 20.
NCA Branch Commander Richard Harrison said: “This gang was willing to put vulnerable migrants, including children, inside refrigerated lorries for hours during dangerous Channel crossings. Their sole motive was profit – with zero care for human life. We will keep disrupting these criminal networks at every turn.”
Warrants are out for Jalal and Salih. Anyone with information should contact the NCA at 0370 4967622 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
