A Turkish lorry driver has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to attempting to smuggle 17 migrants out of the UK in the back of his lorry.
Hakan Zengin, 36, from Cigli in Turkey was detained after his vehicle was stopped by the National Crime Agency and police at the M25’s junction with the A3 on Sunday 21 March.
Seventeen migrants were found concealed in the lorry’s trailer, sitting on pallets that had been laid across the load to accommodate them.
He pleaded guilty to facilitating illegal immigration, and a judge at Kingston Crown Court sentenced him on Friday 4 June.
NCA branch operations manager Chris Hill said: “People smuggling crime groups need corrupt HGV drivers like Zengin to operate. They think nothing of packing people into lorry trailers, or putting them into other extremely dangerous situations.
“While his motivation for doing this may have been money, Zengin has found out the hard way that working with these crime groups does not pay, and he faces a life-changing jail sentence far away from home.
“I hope this conviction and sentencing sends out a message to others who would consider getting involved. It simply isn’t worth it.
“Working with our partners in the UK and overseas we are determined to do all we can to disrupt people smugglers and put corrupt drivers like Zengin behind bars.”
Zengin is the latest in a series of lorry drivers arrested and convicted as part of Operation Symbolry.
