A Middlesbrough member of a people smuggling gang is facing jail after a Vietnamese woman crammed in a car glovebox sparked a Border Force investigation.
Khales Akram Jabar is one of an eight-member UK-based organised crime group to learn their fate after officers made the discovery in June 2022.
Five members of the gang pleaded guilty to all charges brought against them, however, the remaining three members stood trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.
Following a 10-week trial and five guilty pleas, the following eight people will now face prison sentences: brothers Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin and Muhamad Jamal Hamadamin, Yassen Jalal Mohammed, Jozef Kadet, Dlawar Omar, Teesside man Jabar, and husband and wife; Redar Curtis and Emily Etherington.
The court heard how the gang worked together between 2022 and 2024 to unlawfully facilitate immigration into the UK via land and air, by fraud, as well as creating and possessing counterfeit identity documents, which were believed to have been manufactured using a Greek forgery factory.
The gang’s activity was unearthed by an investigation launched by the Home Office’s Criminal and Financial Investigation (CFI) teams in June 2022 when Jozef Balog, from Manchester, was stopped at the UK border upon his return from France. During a search of his vehicle, officers discovered a Vietnamese woman concealed in a cramped compartment concealed behind the dashboard.
Balog pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in January 2024.
A month later, in July 2022, Emily Etherington was stopped by Border Force officers after she was found to be concealing another woman in the dashboard of the vehicle. Etherington was arrested and upon further enquiries, investigators were able to identify her husband Redar Curtis was linked to the facilitation. Etherington pleaded guilty at a hearing on 24 October 2024 and Curtis stood trial.
After linking the three to facilitations, the Home Office prompted a wider investigation which revealed a sophisticated network of gang members engaged in people smuggling and document forgery. The investigation saw seven search warrants executed at various locations across the UK, resulting in the seizure of counterfeit documents, over 20,000 illicit cigarettes, and £6,000 in cash.
The methods used by the gang were varied and calculated. Among their operations, they smuggled migrants across the Channel, hiding them within dangerous spaces of customised vehicles. The gang was also involved in the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit identity documents. These documents enabled non-EU nationals to travel via air into the UK from Europe.
The investigation made a significant breakthrough on November 19, 2023, when Immigration Enforcement officers arrested Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin, the principal suspect, at Manchester Airport. This arrest followed the interception of a parcel sent from Greece containing a false Greek driving licence, addressed to a property in Bolton, listing Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin’s UK mobile number as the contact.
Upon seizing and examining Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin’s phone, officers discovered extensive evidence, including hundreds of images of passports and boarding passes, messages detailing the creation and distribution of false documents, and videos believed to have been recorded inside a forgery factory in Greece.
All seven men and one woman involved will attend a hearing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Wednesday, January 29, 2025.
Defendants
- Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin, 43, of Brook Road, Stockport, pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration to the United Kingdom, one count of conspiracy to make an article for use in a fraud, one count of possession of an identity document with improper intention.
Mukhlis Jalal Hamadamin
(Image: Home Office)
- Muhamad Jamal Hamadamin, 27 of Brook Road, Stockport, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and one count of possessing an identity document with improper intention.
Muhamad Jamal Hamadamin
(Image: Home Office)
- Yassen Jalal Mohammed, 43, of Woodhouse Grove, Huddersfield, pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration to the United Kingdom.
Yassen Jalal Mohammed
- Dlawar Omar, 40 of Pendrill Street, Hull, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration to the United Kingdom.
Dlawar Omar
- Emily Etherington, 37, of Guernsey Way, Kennington, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration to the United Kingdom.
- Khales Akram Jabar, 44, of Barnaby Avenue, Middlesbrough, was found guilty of one count to assist unlawful immigration to the United Kingdom.
Khales Akram Jabar
- Redar Curtis, 30, of Guernsey Way, Kennington, was found guilty of one county to assist unlawful immigration to the United Kingdom.
Redcar Curtis
- Jozef Kadet, 25, of Constable Street, Manchester, was found guilty of one county to assist unlawful immigration to the United Kingdom.
Jozef Kadet
(Image: Home Office)
Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said: “This case shows the ruthless tactics of criminal gangs who smuggle people through Europe and into the UK. They have no regard for human life and exploit vulnerable individuals solely for profit, putting them in incredibly dangerous situations.
“Our investigators have worked tirelessly to track down this gang, gather critical evidence and bring them to justice. Our investigators’ efforts mean that this gang’s operations have been dismantled, their profits slashed, and we are delivering on this government’s Plan for Change: to protect our borders, disrupt people-smuggling networks, and end the exploitation of vulnerable individuals.
“Our new Border Security Command, supported by £150 million in funding, is vital to this mission. It allows us to target these networks wherever they operate, undermine their profits, break their business models—all while reinforcing the security of our borders.”
Home Office Immigration Enforcement, chief immigration officer Paul Moran said: “Today’s convictions are the result of a complex investigation into organised crime that stretched across Europe and took over two years of hard work by our Criminal and Financial Investigation teams in Dover and Manchester. Our team worked closely with the Spanish National Police, Greek Police, and Irish Garda Síochána to break up this criminal group, which was illegally smuggling non-EU nationals into the UK.
“This group put profit ahead of people’s safety, facilitating them through dangerous methods in vehicles and by air, showing no concern for the well-being of those they smuggled. We are committed to stopping dangerous criminal networks and protecting our borders. If you have any information about immigration crime, you can report it anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. By working together, we can disrupt these gangs and help keep people safe.”
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