Two members of an international people-smuggling operation who referred to Vietnamese migrants as "chickens" and "pork" have been jailed following a police investigation. Duc Quang Ta, 36, was sentenced to eight years in prison for trafficking 22 illegal immigrants over an 18-day period between August and September 2020. His associate, Sarfaraz Sardarzehi, 58, received a two-year sentence suspended for 21 months for assisting three migrants to enter the UK.
Police sting on the M25
Ta was arrested as a front-seat passenger in a BMW X5 pulled over by Surrey Police and Thames Valley Police on the M25 near Leatherhead, Surrey, on September 3, 2020. Officers discovered £55,020 in cash stuffed into a plastic bag in the rear passenger footwell, along with an additional £1,000 in Ta's pocket. A phone seized from Ta revealed messages about £56,000 in cash just hours before his detention, indicating he was traveling to Kent to deliver the money to co-conspirators who had arranged for migrants to be smuggled into the UK in the back of an HGV.
Arrest in Birmingham
The following day, Sardarzehi was intercepted by West Midlands Police in Birmingham while driving a silver Vauxhall Corsa. The men with him were believed to be the migrants Ta had been collecting payment for. Sardarzehi initially told officers he had simply "picked them up" but later admitted knowing they were migrants. He was detained again by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers in June 2022. The NCA investigation revealed the criminal network extended from Europe across South East England to the Midlands.
Roles and coded language
Ta played an organizational role, while Sardarzehi acted as a "taxi driver," transporting migrants after their arrival. The gang communicated via encrypted social media apps and used coded language to avoid detection. Migrants were referred to as "siblings," "chicken," "pork," or "things"; police as "dogs"; refrigerated lorries as "fridges"; ferries as traveling by "water"; money as "paper"; and vehicles as "horses." Migrants paid large sums for the journeys and were housed in safe properties, mainly in Belgium, until space became available in lorries.
Conviction and sentencing
Ta and Sardarzehi were convicted of people smuggling and money laundering at Birmingham Crown Court after a three-week trial. NCA branch commander Sara-Jayne Moore said: "Ta and Sardarzehi have paid the price for being part of an evil organised immigration crime group that exploited migrants, all for the sake of making money. They put them in great danger by hiding them in HGVs, and the way they were described shows the utter contempt they had for human life."
