A taxi driver who acted as a courier for a cross-Channel operation smuggling Vietnamese people into the UK has avoided jail.
Habib Behsodi was part of a network of people involved in the illegal enterprise, which transported migrants from a safe house in Europe to HGV lorries bound for the UK.
Intercepted phone messages revealed that the human cargo was referred to as “pork” and “chicken”.
Those being transported are thought to have paid up to £17,000 for passage by entering into a debt agreement, working off some or all of their fee by laboring in places like cannabis farms upon arrival.
Behsodi and his co-accused, Hai Xuan Le, were both found guilty of conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration.
The court heard that lorries arriving in Kent would off-load immigrants to drivers such as Behsodi, who made two journeys, carrying two immigrants on each trip. Behsodi had claimed to have made up to £250 per trip.
The judge described Behsodi’s role as that of a courier, “but you were a courier of individuals who were vulnerable, and brought in for profit”.
Despite playing a significant role in the operation and having shown no remorse, Behsodi was spared jail time.
The judge suspended his two-year prison sentence for 24 months, with probation work, including 200 hours of community service, after accepting that jailing him would have a “huge impact” on his wife and young daughter.
Source: Cab driver who acted as ‘courier’ for cross-Channel people smugglers avoids jail
The judge needs to be in prison!