Bradford men among gang found guilty of smuggling migrants into UK

Kamaran Kader, 44, of Basil Street, Canterbury, Bradford, was discovered in the passenger seat of a VW Touran used by the organised crime network.

Meanwhile Goran Jalal, 37, of Brandfort Street, Lidget Green, Bradford, has been named as the alleged ringleader of the group. 

He is now wanted by the National Crime Agency (NCA), having absconded following his arrest.

The NCA has spent four years investigating the organised crime group’s activities and carrying out a surveillance operation.

In the early hours of March 11, 2019, NCA officers watched as members of the group drove their Volkswagen Touran to rendezvous with a lorry driven by Romanian national Marinel Danut Palage, 31, who resides in Spain.

Romanian national Marinel Danut Palage, 31, who resides in Spain, left, and the lorry and storage locker used (Image: NCA)

Before the meet-up at an industrial estate in Runcton, West Sussex, the truck had travelled to Portsmouth on a ferry from Caen in northern France the previous evening.

The truck was carrying a legitimate load of spinach from Spain and at least three people who had been brought to the UK illegally.

After meeting up with the lorry, the VW drove away, only to stop in a layby on the A27, where migrants were transferred into two further cars.

Two Iraqi nationals - a sister and brother aged 18 and 13 - were found in the passenger seats of a Vauxhall Astra stopped on the A34 northbound. 

The car was being driven by 33-year-old gang member Mariwan Mustafa, of Ovenden Way, Halifax. 

Gang member Mariwan Mustafa, of Ovenden Way, Halifax, and some of the recovered cash (Image: NCA)

The second car, an Audi A3, was stopped by police on the M3 and Palage attempted to run off as NCA officers approached his truck. He was later detained and arrested.

During a search of his cab, plastic bags containing £34,500 cash were found. Further bundles of euros and sterling to the value of around 7,000 were located hidden behind a tachograph panel.

Later that morning, the VW Touran was stopped at Liphook services on the A3. 

Jalal, who had been in contact with Palage to arrange to meet up, was found in the driver’s seat while Kader was sitting on the passenger side.

NCA investigators pieced together the conspiracy following the seizure of phones, identifying other members of the group and at least two other suspected people smuggling events into Portsmouth in January and March 2019.

Left to right, Jamal Walid Saied, Hemin Ali Salih, and Pshtewan Majid Ghafour (Image: NCA)

Phone evidence showed that Pshtewan Ghafour, 37, of Camsell Court, Middlesbrough, had travelled down to Portsmouth with Jalal and Kader on the same nights that Palage arrived in his lorry via ferry. 

Analysis of the cash seized from Palage’s lorry found Ghafour and Kader’s fingerprints on the bags and envelopes containing the money.

Two other members of the group were identified through phone evidence - Manchester duo Jamal Saied, 38, of Brightstone Walk, and Hemin Salih, 37, of Bryson Walk. 

They were also found to have been in the Chichester area on the night of the handover on March 11.

Following a four week trial at Bournemouth Crown Court, Palage and Ghafour were found guilty of conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration today (Tuesday 14 March).

They were remanded in custody and will be sentenced on April 13, alongside Kader who pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

Saied and Mustafa were found guilty of facilitating illegal immigration. 

Salih absconded before the start of the trial, but was convicted of the same offence in his absence. They will be sentenced on April 20. 

NCA Branch Commander Richard Harrison said: “This people smuggling group were content to put vulnerable migrants, including children, in the back of refrigerated lorries for hours on end during dangerous Channel crossings.

“It is clear from the evidence we found that their sole reason was for profit, without any regard to the migrants safety.

“Tackling organised immigration crime is a priority for the NCA, and working with our partners we are determined to do all we can to disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks involved.” 

Warrants for the arrest of both Jalal and Salih have been issued. Anyone with information about their whereabouts should contact the NCA on 0370 4967622 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.