Car wash in Wales was a front for trafficking migrants into Europe

IDEO footage shows migrants being smuggled into Europe by lorry and by boat having been assisted by a people-trafficking operation based at a car wash in Wales.

- PHILIP DEWEY

One migrant can be seen lying in the back of a lorry, while others are on the side of a boat.

Dilshad Shamo, 41, and Ali Khdir, 40, made several thousands of pounds by helping migrants from outside the EU - mainly from Iraq, Iran, and Syria - to breach immigration laws to illegally enter countries including Italy, Romania, Germany and Croatia.

They both ran an operation from the Fast Track Hand Car Wash in Pontygwindy Road, Caerphilly, between September 30, 2022, and April 19, 2023.

Evidence was collated by the National Crime Agency, who conducted a long-running investigation into their activities.

Opening the pair's trial to a jury, prosecutor Sarah Gaunt said: “It is the prosecution's case the defendants were conducting a people-smuggling operation from Caerphilly - primarily the Fast Track Hand Car Wash situated in Pontygwindy Road”

Various telephone and SIM cards were seized from the defendants. Those telephones were downloaded and substantial amounts of evidence in terms of messages and other internet communications were scrutinised. There was contact from individuals from Iraq, Turkey, and from across Europe.

Among the footage seized during the investigation were self-filmed videos from migrants as they were in the process of being smuggled from one country to another.