MIGRANT SMUGGLING IN THE UK

Belgian authorities, in collaboration with the National Crime Agency (NCA), intercepted a lorry attempting to illegally smuggle clandestine migrants into the UK. The men were stopped at a car park in Gentbrugge, Belgium, before the group could proceed to the United Kingdom.

Eoin Nolan and Daniel Loughran attempted to illegally smuggle 10 Vietnamese migrants, including eight children, from Belgium to the UK on March 5, 2020.

NCA investigators discovered that Loughran, from Armagh in Northern Ireland, had worked closely with Wayne Sherlock, 44, originally from County Meath but a resident of Dover. Sherlock, a former Irish Gaelic footballer, who had previously pleaded guilty for his role in the affair in June 2020, was sentenced to four years in prison.

Nolan and Loughran were arrested by NCA officers and, following a five-week trial at Maidstone Crown Court, were convicted of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration on February 6th. Today (September 4th), the two were sentenced at the same court.

NCA Branch Commander David Cunningham stated: 'The organised crime group of Nolan and Loughran continued to relentlessly pursue making this crossing a success, despite it being just months after the tragic deaths of 39 migrants who had tried to make a similar journey.'

'We saw in their communications that they faced issues finding a driver to smuggle the migrants but persisted anyway, despite the danger involved. They operated as a well-oiled machine and took £150,000 from these vulnerable migrants, most of whom were children, purely out of greed.'

'The group loaded old tyres onto the trailer solely to make it look like a legitimate delivery, and the migrants were told to hide inside them, despite the load being unstable and potentially causing serious injury or worse if the journey had continued.'

'The NCA will continue to tackle organised immigration crime and in our work with partners to bring criminal gangs like the one Nolan and Loughran were involved in to justice.'