Noor Ullah
(Picture: National Crime Agency)A man who was part of a gang that helped murder and child abuse suspects in their attempts to leave the UK has been jailed.
Noor Ullah, 29, of Church Lane, Leytonstone, was sentenced to two years and five months in prison on Thursday at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
Ullah was identified by the National Crime Agency (NCA) as a key member of a gang which used a network of mostly Romanian lorries to move migrants from France into Kent or the other way around.
Among those attempting to leave the UK using their services included a man wanted for child abuse offences and a man wanted for murder.
NCA officials said the group is thought to have transported hundreds of migrants both into and out of the country - with some truck drivers being completely unaware that they were smuggling people.
Ullah was arrested during raids in east London in May 2021, but denied the charges against him until the first day of his trial, where he pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle people out of the UK.
The NCA’s senior investigating officer Chris Hill said: “People smugglers like Ullah don’t care about safety or border security – that was evident from the fact that the crime group he was part of was happy to help individuals wanted for serious criminal offences to try and escape the UK.
“The group used both complicit drivers and some who had their trucks broken into and therefore had no idea they were carrying migrants.
“They looked to maximise their profits by ensuring the lorries carried people both into and out of the UK.”
Another east London man arrested as part of the investigation, codenamed Operation Symbolry, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to move people into and out of the UK.
Mohammed Mokter Hossain, 52, of Gaynes Hill Road, Woodford Green, is due to be sentenced following a Newton Hearing expected to take place in May 2022.
