A gang of elderly people smugglers were paid more than £5,000 per head to bring illegal immigrants into the UK, it is alleged.
A court heard how a lorry full of Afghan and Sikh migrants was intercepted in Southall on September 7, 2019, after an undercover operation by the National Crime Agency.
Four days later the gang members were paid £64,000 in cash for organising the run, it is claimed.
Mark Youell, 68, Martin Babbage, 68, Paul Lane, 65, Terry Brewer, 51, Rohit Chawla, 34, conspired with six other men to bring the immigrants into the country, a jury at the Old Bailey heard.
Prosecutor Lesley Bates, KC, said that all men were members of an organised crime group.
An undercover operation to catch the smugglers began two months earlier on July 5, 2019, when officers from the NCA began to observe Freddy Lawrence – a man named as one of the conspirators.
Gang members were tailed by NCA agents in ‘Operation Geochronic’ as they met in pub car parks to organise the human shipment.
For the next three months they were filmed at pubs and other locations in Ramsgate Broadstairs, Hythe and Greenwich.
A gang of elderly people smugglers are on trial after earning more than £5,000-a-head to bring lorries of illegal immigrants into the UK
A court heard how two members of the gang departed Dover Marina (pictured) in a boat named ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ on September 1, 2019
Secret bugs were able to catch the gang mentioning boats, ‘getting fuel’ and how they ‘all had to put in equal amounts.’
They had also considered bringing people in on a boat they controlled and sailed it across the channel, the court heard.
‘Following a number of these meetings in July and August, on September 1, 2019, two men departed Dover Marina in a boat named “To Kill A Mockingbird,”’ the prosecutor said.
‘They travelled towards the French coast and returned around five hours later.
‘They did not in fact bring any migrants with them on this occasion and it may be that something thwarted their plan.
‘Subsequently, the plan appears to have changed, and other willing participants were identified and brought into the plan.
‘Thus, on September 7, 2019, police intercepted a lorry at a cricket club in Southall.
‘In the rear of the lorry were 12 Afghan Sikh migrants. All of them had been brought here illegally.
‘Four days later, two of the defendants together collected £64,945 in cash. This was payment for the enterprise.’
Youell of Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, Babbage of Great Baddow, Essex, Lane of Brentwood, Essex, and Terry Brewer of Hatfield Perevel, Essex, and Chawla of Hayes, West London, all deny conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.
Youell, also denies possessing money which was the proceeds of crime.
The trial continues.
