- Nikolai Kuznetsov was found to be carrying 22 migrants in his trailer
A five-year-old girl was among migrants caught being smuggled out of Britain in the back of a HGV by a Russian lorry driver.
Nikolai Kuznetsov, 39, was found by UK Border Force officers to be carrying 22 migrants in his trailer, including the girl and her parents.
All of the migrants, who were of North African origin, were attempting to avoid French border controls.
Kuznetsov was arrested after his vehicle was stopped at Dover Docks on August 17 2023.
He was sentenced on Friday to four years and four months imprisonment after pleading guilty at the first opportunity to facilitating illegal entry to an EU member state.
Nikolai Kuznetsov, 39, was found to be carrying 22 migrants in the trailer of his HGV when he was stopped by Border Force officers at Dover Docks in August last year
Trucks queuing at Dover docks for ferry crossings (file photo)
People smuggling into and out of the country is used by criminal gangs as a means to increasing their profit and is also a method used by wanted criminals to slip out of the country.
A notable example was Islamic State executioner Mohammed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John, who hid in the back of a HGV in order to cross the Channel while fleeing to Syria.
John Turner, operations manager at the National Crime Agency said: ‘Kuznetsov was complicit with the people smugglers whose only concern was making money, rather than the wellbeing of those individuals found in his trailer.
‘Thankfully they were found and safeguarded, but we know organised crime groups will continue in their attempts to use migrants to make money.
‘The NCA works closely with a range of partners – both here in the UK and overseas – to ensure all people who enter or leave the UK do so legally, and are in possession of lawfully obtained identity documents and the correct visa requirements.
‘This sentencing sends a clear message to anyone concerned in facilitating illegal migration, to or from the UK, that they will be caught and will receive a custodial sentence.’
