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Home » News Centre » Press Releases » CPS work in Europe helps convict people smuggling ring

CPS work in Europe helps convict people smuggling ring

04/10/2006

The Crown Prosecution Service helped obtain powerful evidence from Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria to halt the reign of a Turkish people smuggling gang sentenced today at Croydon Crown Court. In this case, 47 people were known to have reached the UK, and attempts had been made to smuggle at least 400 by ringleaders Ramazan Zorlu and Riza Gun, the last members to plead guilty before trial.

Based in North London but with facilitators across Europe, the ten-strong gang ran a commercial venture to facilitate the illegal entry into the UK of mainly Turkish immigrants. Each person moved earned them a fee of up to £14,000. From April 2003 to the arrest of the main conspirators in October 2005, the prosecution had proof that 414 immigrants were attempting to enter the UK in lorries, planes, cars, vans and trains.

Case lawyer Hilary Bradfield of CPS London's Special Casework division said:

"The gang's 'customers' were subjected to some appalling conditions, including being without food for several days, transported in coffin-like compartments under lorries and being delayed at various locations waiting for transport, without means of support. This included women, at least one of whom was pregnant at the time, and several children.

"The size and complexities of this case required very skilled co-ordination at all stages of the prosecution by the police, CPS, Counsel, and the Court as well as our colleagues abroad, leading to the closure of this highly lucrative network"

Intercept material from Belgium, Italy and Austria provided clear evidence of the conspiracy and played a part in encouraging the defendants to plead guilty. These intercepts were only admissible in evidence because they were obtained by foreign law enforcement agencies as part of their own investigations. CPS lawyers travelled to the Hague to work with Eurojust, the European Union body which helps Member States deal with the investigation and prosecution of serious cross-border and organised crime.

The CPS was approached at an early stage to provide advice on the legal and evidential aspects of the case. Early contact with European judicial authorities was essential and the close co-operation and assistance which they gave, both to the police and the CPS, was invaluable.

  1. Media enquiries to CPS Press Office on 020 7710 6088.
  2. The conspiracy stretched from April 2003 to the arrest of the main conspirators in October 2005. People were smuggled into the UK on behalf of employers or relatives who paid the gang members.They used the main ports, such as Dover and Calais as well as less busy ones such as Portsmouth Dartford and Immingham.
  3. Evidence included telephone billing records and stored numbers in seized handsets, covert surveillance and the evidence of a convicted illegal immigrant who provided detailed accounts of the network's activities and methodology.