A man involved in a gang that smuggled illegal migrants into the UK in vehicles has been jailed.

Khaled Mahmud, 50, of Kings Avenue, Muswell Hill, played a key role within the people smuggling network, which involved transporting migrants in vans and a refrigerated lorry.

Drivers were recruited to facilitate the movement of people into the country from mainland Europe.

Each person brought into the UK was charged between £5,000 and £10,000 to be hidden in vehicles.

Mahmud was found guilty of two counts of conspiring to facilitate breaches of immigration law and was today (October 16) sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.

The first arrest was made in March 2017, when Milan Sochanic – the father of Marek Sochanic, another man who has been jailed – drove a van from the UK to Belgium on two occasions to collect and transport people.

He was stopped by French police at Calais on his second trip and eight migrants were discovered hidden among furniture in the van.

Milan Sochanic was convicted of people smuggling offences in France.

On another occasion, the crime group organised for migrants to be smuggled from France and the Netherlands to the UK in a refrigerated lorry trailer containing fruit and vegetables.

The return journey from Rotterdam was foiled by Dutch police who located 12 Vietnamese migrants, including children as young as four years old, due to be loaded into the lorry.

In the days that followed, Muhammad Zada, from Middlesbrough, and his associates arranged for migrants to be hidden inside a camper van, as well as in vans among bicycle boxes and a shipment of mattresses.

On all three occasions the journeys were intercepted by law enforcement officers – twice in France and once in Belgium.

The crime group were also found to have duped drivers by tasking them to transport legitimate commodities from mainland Europe to the UK.

People were then loaded into vehicles without the drivers knowing.

Zada was apprehended at his Wynyard property, where his white Range Rover worth around £100k was parked on the driveway.

A separate investigation, led by HM Revenue and Customs, identified Zada as the leader of a gang that smuggled more than two million cigarettes into the UK hidden among a shipment of fridge freezers.

He was sentenced to five-and-a-half years imprisonment for his leading role in that crime syndicate in October 2018.

Muhammad Zada, Gurprit Khalon, Marek Sochanic and Pareiz were sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on September 20.

Zada was jailed for 20 years after being found guilty of five counts of conspiring to facilitate breaches of immigration law.

NCA branch commander Martin Clarke said: “Today’s outcome is the result of tireless efforts to dismantle people smuggling networks and ensure those treating people as commodities and putting lives at risk are put behind bars.

“The NCA alone has more than 70 ongoing investigations into networks or individuals operating at the top tier of this crime type, and working with our partners internationally and domestically, as seen in this case, is a key component of our work to tackle organised immigration crime and human trafficking.”

Arslan Khan, unit head of the serious economic organised crime and international directorate in the CPS, said: “These men were happy to risk the lives and safety of others to make money.

“This was a complex operation involving collaboration across international borders. The CPS was able to present a comprehensive and compelling body of evidence in court.

“Some defendants pleaded guilty while others were found guilty after a long and protracted trial.

 “We will now seek to pursue any money or assets they gained through their crimes through our Proceeds of Crime Division.”