People trafficking: Halifax man among six jailed for smuggling migrants into the UK in the back of a spinach lorry

Mariwan Mustafa, aged 33, of Ovenden Way in Halifax was found guilty of facilitating illegal immigration and was today (Wednesday) sentenced to two years and six months in prison.

Mustafa was part of an organised crime gang whose activities were uncovered following a four-year investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

In the early hours of March 11, 2019, NCA officers watched as members of the gang drove their VW Touran people carrier to rendezvous with a lorry driven by Romanian national Marinel Danut Palage, 31, at an industrial estate in West Sussex.

The truck had arrived in Portsmouth on a ferry from Caen in northern France the previous evening and was carrying a legitimate load of spinach from Spain.

But it was also carrying at least three people who had been brought to the UK illegally.

In total, the gang was sentenced to 26 years in jail but the alleged ringleader of the crime group remains at large and is now wanted along with another gang member by the National Crime Agency.

Goran Jalal, aged 37 and from Bradford, is suspected of organising crossings, while Hemin Ali Salih, aged 37 and from Manchester, is wanted after being convicted of attempting to use Jalal’s criminal network to smuggle a relative to Britain.

NCA officers are issuing appeals for the whereabouts of both men following the sentencing today (10 May) of the remaining members of the gang.

Key to the plot was Romanian lorry driver Palage who carried out migrant runs for the network in his truck, using crossings from Normandy into Portsmouth.

Kamaran Kader, aged 44 and from Bradford, and Pshtewan Ghafour, aged 37 and from Middlesbrough, acted alongside Jalal and worked with Palage to organise crossings, says the NCA.

Following a four-week trial at Bournemouth Crown Court, Palage and Ghafour were found guilty of conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration. They were sentenced to nine and five years in prison respectively.

As part of the same trial, Jamal Walid Saied, 38 and from Manchester, Halifax’s Mustafa and Salih were all found guilty of facilitating illegal immigration. They were today handed sentences of three years, two-and-a half-years, and two years respectively.

Salih absconded before the start of the trial and was convicted and sentenced in his absence. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Kader had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to four-and-a-half years.

NCA Branch Commander Richard Harrison said: “People smugglers risk lives, which is why targeting them is a priority for the NCA and we are doing all we can to disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks involved.

“The men convicted and sentenced put profit ahead of people. They were happy to put vulnerable migrants into the backs of lorries for long Channel sea crossings, and I’m delighted they are now behind bars.

“But Goran Jalal and Hemin Ali Salih both remain at large. Warrants have been issued for their arrests, and we will not rest until they are in custody.”

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of either Jalal or Salih should contact the NCA on 0370 4967622 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.