A people smuggler who crammed seven migrants into his van’s one-man sleeping compartment in an attempt to enter Britain has been jailed for three years.
Shocking videos show how Valeriu Iordatii, 24, squeezed six Vietnamese people and one Syrian into the Citroen’s 8ft x 4ft space before boarding a ferry from the Hook of Holland to Harwich, Essex.
However, Border Force officers searched the vehicle and discovered the illegal migrants in a “horrendously overcrowded” hide directly above his head.
At Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday, Romanian Iordatii was sentenced for facilitation and illegal entry into the UK.
He claimed to have no idea the compartment was crammed full of people, despite its location.
Iordatii said he’d been commissioned to deliver furniture to the UK after a chance encounter with an old friend under the Eiffel Tower in Paris. He collected the vehicle from a petrol station before heading for the port.
Two of the migrants claimed asylum upon entry. The remaining five who did not claim asylum were deemed illegal migrants, and were immediately returned to the Netherlands.
Iordatii faces deportation from the UK as a foreign national offender after he completes his sentence.
Chris Foster, deputy director of criminal and financial investigations at the Home Office said: “This shocking case shows that people smugglers are going to increasingly extreme lengths to make their money.
“If anything had happened on that ferry, seven people would have been unaccounted for and trapped.
“The sentence shows that those who abuse our borders and our laws will be caught and will face justice and then, where possible, be removed from the country.”
Michael Tomlinson, minister for countering illegal migration, said: “People smugglers don’t care if their passengers live or die, as long as they pay.
“Our message is clear – if you put lives at risk, you will face the full weight of the law and we will ensure you leave the UK as soon as possible.”
Earlier this month, a man was jailed for two years and eight months after attempting to smuggle 12 people into the UK on a dangerously overcrowded yacht. It was carrying three times its capacity and was fitted with a faulty engine, Ipswich Crown Court heard.
In another case last month a people smuggler was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Canterbury Crown Court for cramming a Vietnamese woman behind the 4ft x 2ft dashboard of his car.
