Teesside men accused of using lorries and motorhomes to smuggle Kurdish migrants into UK
Five Teesside men have appeared in court accused of helping smuggle hundreds of Iraqi-Kurdish migrants into the UK.
It is alleged the men were part of a Kurdish network which would use lorries, motorhomes and other vehicles, to hide and transport people from France, Belgium and the Netherlands into UK ferry ports.
A number of HGVs were intercepted on their way.
The migrants would be charged between £5,000 and £10,000 for that leg of the journey.
The men were all arrested in raids by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in 2018. The offences are alleged to have taken place between March and June 2017.
The men appeared at Newcastle Crown Court on Thursday, where Judge Paul Sloan told them they face trial on October 10 2022.
- Bestoon Abdullah Moslih, 38, of Tulip Close, Stockton, charged with conspiring to facilitate a breach of immigration law and helping an asylum seeker to gain entry into the UK.
- Marek Sochanic, 27, of Leyburn Street, Hartlepool, charged with conspiring to facilitate a breach of immigration law and helping an asylum seeker to gain entry into the UK.
- Gurprit Peter Kahlon Singh, 64, of Clarendon Road, in Thornaby, charged with two counts of conspiring to facilitate a breach of immigration law and two counts of helping an asylum seeker to gain entry into the UK.
- Mohammed Kheder Zada, 40, of Applecross Grove, Wynyard, charged with five counts of conspiring to facilitate a breach of immigration law and five counts of helping an asylum seeker to gain entry into the UK.
- Pareiz Abdullah, 38, of St Barnabus Road, in Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, charged with conspiring to facilitate a breach of immigration law, and helping an asylum seeker to gain entry into the UK
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Khaled Mahmud, 47, of Magdalene Evans Court, Lambeth, London, charged with two counts of conspiring to facilitate a breach of immigration law and two counts of helping an asylum seeker to gain entry into the UK.
The judge warned them that if they were guilty of the charges, it would be better for them to let the court know as soon as possible, as an early guilty plea would mean a lower prison term, than if they were found guilty after trial.
All six men were released on bail - some with conditions to live and sleep at their home addresses - until their next court appearance.
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