A 25-year-old man has been jailed for five years and three months for orchestrating a people-smuggling operation that transported Indian nationals from the UK to France in the backs of lorries.
Jaskirat Singh was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday for conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration to a member state, having pleaded guilty earlier this month. The offences spanned from December 2024 to March 2026.
The operation
Singh’s business model, as outlined by Judge Alison Russell, involved arranging the movement of around 15 people at a time in heavy goods vehicles to France. His role was primarily logistical – coordinating with drivers for pick-ups and drop-offs – rather than directly recruiting the migrants.
The Crown Prosecution Service said he played a key role in organising the illegal crossings, arranging payments and co-ordinating drivers over a sustained period. Evidence from a voice note seized from his phone suggests he claimed to have been operating for four years and sending approximately 60 people per week to France over a nine-month stretch, a boast believed to be aimed at persuading someone to join the conspiracy.
A message dated June 2025 showed a payment of £5,500 for the transport of 15 people to France in a single lorry. Investigators estimate Singh earned more than £185,000 from the enterprise.
The investigation was triggered after 11 Indian nationals were found hiding in a lorry trailer stopped at Dover in December 2024. Further information from four other Indian nationals discovered in a separate lorry in January 2025 led authorities to Singh in Wolverhampton.
The evidence
Material retrieved from Singh’s mobile devices painted a clear picture of the operation. There were messages organising transport, videos showing large quantities of £20 notes spread across a bed, and a TikTok account that appeared to advertise cross-Channel journeys. The use of social media platforms such as TikTok by people smugglers to promise quick and safe crossings has become a growing concern, with calls for platforms and authorities to tighten content moderation.
Judge Russell described Singh as the “coordinator” and “logistics manager” of the business, noting that the offending was repeated over a sustained period and associated with significant financial gain. She added: “You were well aware of the degree of organisation and even if you were not at the very top of the chain you played an important logistical role.” The judge also highlighted the risks of concealing people in HGVs in “unsafe and cramped conditions”, and said there was a suggestion that children may have been involved. In 2023, 7,432 children were identified as potential victims of trafficking in England and Wales, underscoring the broader vulnerability associated with such smuggling networks.
Defence and sentencing
Singh, of Goldthorn Hill, Wolverhampton, came to the UK aged 18 as an Italian national after his family moved from India to Italy, where he spent most of his life. He lived with his aunt and uncle and worked legally in construction, earning between £4,000 and £4,500 a month. It was during this time, the court heard, that he met many of his co-conspirators.
Defending, Talbir Singh KC told the court it seemed “incongruous” that his client had entered the conspiracy when he had no real financial need to do so. He suggested there was evidence Singh did not have complete control of his bank accounts and that he was a “subordinate, not the architect of a conspiracy”.
During the hearing, Singh, aided by a Punjabi interpreter, entered his guilty plea. Addressing the sentence, District Crown Prosecutor Peter Cockrill of the CPS South East said: “Jaskirat Singh played a key role in organising the illegal movement of people from the UK to France using lorries, putting individuals at serious risk in the process. The evidence showed he was co-ordinating drivers, arranging payments and actively involved in a sustained operation over many months. We will now apply for a confiscation order to recover as much of his criminal profit as possible.”
