An Indian man has been jailed for five years and three months in south-east England after admitting his role in smuggling migrants from the UK to France in the back of lorries. Jaskirat Singh, 25, pleaded guilty earlier this month to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration to a member state.
The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service said Singh played a central role in the movement of non-British nationals between December 2024 and March 2026 and is believed to have earned around 185,000 pounds from the operation. He was sentenced by Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday.
According to the CPS, the case came to light after 11 Indian nationals were found hiding in the trailer of a lorry stopped at Dover in December 2024. Information provided by them, along with details from four other Indians found in a separate lorry travelling to France in January 2025, led authorities to Singh and his address in Wolverhampton.
An investigation led by Immigration Enforcement found what the CPS described as extensive incriminating material on Singh’s mobile devices, including voice notes, images, messages and videos. Some of the images had been saved from TikTok and advertised crossings to France.
Singh was arrested, interviewed by Immigration Enforcement officers and later charged. Among the evidence was a video, believed to have been filmed by Singh, showing a large number of 20-pound notes spread out on a bed.
Another video, filmed by someone else, showed migrants getting off a lorry in an unknown location, with the person filming saying, “UK to France”, suggesting it was a successful smuggling incident.
The CPS also said Singh boasted in a voice message about successfully arranging for up to 60 people to be driven to France every week over nine months, though it added that it was not clear whether he was exaggerating to attract more business.
One set of messages found on Singh’s phone, dated June 2025, was with a Romanian mobile number and discussed payment for 15 people who had been smuggled to France in a lorry. The chat confirmed that the driver was paid 5,500 pounds for the “human cargo”.
“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,” said Peter Cockrill, District Crown Prosecutor for CPS South East. “The evidence showed he was coordinating drivers, arranging payments and actively involved in a sustained operation over many months,” he said, adding, “We will now apply for a confiscation order to recover as much of his criminal profit as possible.”
The CPS said confiscation proceedings would now begin to recover the proceeds of Singh’s criminal activity and ensure he does not benefit from it in future. The case centred on his role in organising repeated lorry crossings from the UK to France and the evidence gathered from migrants and his mobile phones.
With PTI Inputs
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