Two jailed for trying to smuggle migrants out of UK

Sorin-Costinel Ivan was jailed for three years and four months

Two Romanian nationals have been jailed for attempting to smuggle 50 migrants out of the UK in the back of lorries earlier this year.

Marius Bajenaru, 44, and Sorin-Costinel Ivan, 46, were both sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday.

The pair were arrested as part of a National Crime Agency (NCA) operation at the Port of Dover, supported by Kent Police, Immigration Enforcement and the Port of Dover Police.

The NCA said Bajenaru had 17 migrants concealed in the rear of his Romanian-registered panel van, while Ivan had 32 people, who were mainly Bangladeshi nationals, in the trailer of his HGV.

Marius Bajenaru received a prison sentence of two years and eight months

Just under £14,000 in cash was taken from both vehicles, the NCA added.

In interviews with NCA investigators, Bajenaru admitted he had collected the migrants from a layby on the A20 near Ashford, and stood to be paid around £200 for each person he smuggled.

Ivan also admitted having visited a layby on the A20 near Ashford, but initially denied any knowledge of the migrants in his trailer.

However, he later changed his plea and admitted a charge of facilitating illegal immigration.

Bajenaru and Ivan attempted to smuggle almost 50 migrants out of the country

Ivan was jailed for three years and four months, while Bajenaru was sentenced to two years and eight months.

It comes just a few weeks after the NCA warned that organised crime groups are actively recruiting professional drivers to smuggle people both ways across the Channel in their vehicles.

NCA senior investigating officer John Turner said: "People smuggling gangs will pitch this as a low-risk way of making extra money to drivers, but as this case shows it is anything but."