Indian Man Jailed Over Five Years for Smuggling Migrants from UK to France
A 25-year-old Indian national, Jaskirat Singh, has been sentenced to five years and three months in prison by Canterbury Crown Court in south-east England for his role in a people smuggling operation that moved individuals from the United Kingdom to France.
Singh pleaded guilty to conspiracy to facilitate illegal immigration earlier this month, after being prosecuted by the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The court heard that the operation ran between December 2024 and March 2026, and Singh earned approximately 185,000 pounds from the illegal activity.
The case came to light in December 2024 when 11 Indian nationals were found hiding in the trailer of a lorry stopped at Dover. Information from these individuals, along with four other Indian nationals discovered in a separate lorry travelling to France in January 2025, led authorities to Singh’s address in Wolverhampton.
An Immigration Enforcement investigation uncovered extensive incriminating material on Singh's mobile devices, including voice notes, images, messages, and videos. Some images had been saved from TikTok and advertised crossings to France.
Among the evidence was a video, likely 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 at an unknown location, with the person filming saying, “U.K. to France,” suggesting it was a successful smuggling incident.
In a voice message, Singh bragged about arranging for up to 60 people to be driven to France every week over nine months, though it is unclear if he was exaggerating. One string of messages from June 2025 involved a Romanian mobile number, discussing payment for 15 people smuggled to France in a lorry. The chat confirmed 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.”
The CPS confirmed it will now apply for a confiscation order to recover as much of Singh’s criminal profit as possible, ensuring he does not benefit from his crimes in the future.
