People smugglers 'acted as travel agents' for migrants

PEOPLE smugglers based at a car wash in South Wales who acted as “travel agents” for migrants who were smuggled into Europe by lorry and boat have both been jailed for 19 years each.

- LUCY JOHN & PHILIP DEWEY

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

Migrants paid the pair thousands of pounds to be trafficked.

They both ran the 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 (NCA) who conducted a long-running investigation into the activities of Shamo and Khdir.

A judge said they ran a “well-organised and successful” travel agency in a business with a turnover estimated to be worth £1.8m in just six months.

The NCA believes they trafficked around 400 people through illegal routes during that time.

Recorder of Cardiff Tracey Lloyd Clarke told the pair before sentencing on Friday, April 10: “You were both the organisers of a large and sophisticated network which enabled the successful illegal movement of a very large number of migrants from Iran, Iraq, and Syria into and across Europe. You provided that service to almost anyone who was prepared to pay your fees.”

Both defendants, who initially denied charges of five counts of conspiracy to facilitate the commission of a breach or attempted breach of immigration laws, changed their pleas to guilty during their trial at Cardiff Crown Court. They were formally found guilty of the charges by the jury.

The court heard the majority of the evidence came from the defendants’ phones, including a substantial amount of encrypted WhatsApp messages between them and other individuals across Iraq, Turkey, Europe and elsewhere.