A car wash owner who a court heard had plotted to drug trafficked children to keep them quiet during illegal crossings to the UK has been jailed. Luan Braha was given eight years for conspiring to illegally breach immigration laws.
The North Macedonian national ran his network from his "The Boss" car wash in Staffordshire, Stoke Crown Court was told. He used it as a base to co-ordinate the smuggling of Albanian nationals from Belgium to the UK.
But his lucrative trade came to an end when West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit busted the network. He had conspired with fellow criminals in mainland Europe to bring up to 200 migrants across the channel in the back of lorries.
The court was told he planned to charge desperate migrants more than £5,000 each and even discussed drugging people, including youngsters, to keep them quiet during the journey from Ghent. But after West Midlands ROCU identified him as the mastermind behind the plot from surveillance of online communications, he was arrested at the car wash in Mill Street, Newcastle-Under-Lyme.
Simultaneous warrants were executed in Belgium as the unit worked in partnership with the East Flanders Human Trafficking Team. Braha claimed to officers he had no intention of ever carrying out his plans and that it was a flight of fancy.
But the jury rejected that claim, and he was found guilty on June 8. At the same court on Thursday (July 28), he was jailed for eight years.
Detective Inspector Julie Woods from the West Midlands ROCU said: “The jury dismissed his mitigation and the judge agreed, stating we’d brought strong and compelling evidence against Braha. He used the car wash to make acquaintances and generate support for his plan to traffic migrants.
“We intercepted what he believed was secure chat groups where discussions about migrants, payments and the travel plans were uncovered. It was clear Braha was the lead conspirator and was quite openly making arrangements to smuggle people in to the UK for payment with no regard for their safety.”
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