Eight members of an organised crime gang are facing jail after border officials found a Vietnamese woman crammed inside a car glovebox.
A court heard how between 2022 and 2024 the gang smuggled people into the UK via land and air and also provided fake documents, made in a Greek forgery factory. Their crimes were uncovered following an investigation by the Home Office’s Criminal and Financial Investigation team.
In June 2022 Jozef Balong, from Manchester, was stopped at the UK border after travelling from France. During a search of his vehicle, Border Force officers discovered a Vietnamese woman concealed in a cramped compartment behind the dashboard.
Officers found a Vietnamese woman hidden in a cramped compartment concealed behind the dashboard of a car in June 2022
(
Image:
PA)
The gang now faces jail
(
Image:
Home Office)
Balog pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in January 2024. A month later, in July 2022, Emily Etherington was stopped by Border Force officers after she was found hiding another woman in the dashboard of the vehicle. Etherington was arrested, while investigators also linked her husband Redar Curtis, to the offence.
The Home Office launched a wider investigation which revealed a sophisticated network of gang members engaged in people smuggling and document forgery. Seven search warrants were executed at various locations across the UK, resulting in the seizure of counterfeit documents, over 20,000 illicit cigarettes, and £6,000 in cash.
A Home Office spokesman said: “The methods used by the gang were varied and calculated. Among their operations, they smuggled migrants across the Channel, hiding them within dangerous spaces of customised vehicles.
“The gang were also involved in the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit identity documents. These documents enabled non-EU nationals to travel via air into the UK from Europe.”
Redar Curtis
(
Image:
PA)
Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin
(
Image:
PA)
In November 2023 Immigration Enforcement officers arrested Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin, the principal suspect, at Manchester Airport. This arrest followed the interception of a parcel sent from Greece containing a false Greek driving licence, addressed to a property in Bolton, listing his UK mobile number as the contact.
After seizing and examining his phone, officers discovered extensive evidence, including hundreds of images of passports and boarding passes, messages detailing the creation and distribution of false documents, and videos believed to have been recorded inside a forgery factory in Greece.
Five members of the group pleaded guilty to all charges brought against them, while three stood trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.
Brothers Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin and Muhamad Jamal Hamadamin, from Stockport, Yassen Jalal Mohammed, from Huddersfield, Dlawar Omar, from Hull, and Emily Etherington, from Kennington, all pleaded guilty. Following a 10 week trial Jozef Kadet, from Manchester, Khales Jabar from Middlesbrough and Redar Curtis, from Kennington, were all found guilty. They are due to be sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on January 29.
Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said: “This case shows the ruthless tactics of criminal gangs who smuggle people through Europe and into the UK. They have no regard for human life and exploit vulnerable individuals solely for profit, putting them in incredibly dangerous situations.
“Our investigators have worked tirelessly to track down this gang, gather critical evidence and bring them to justice. Our investigators’ efforts mean that this gang’s operations have been dismantled, their profits slashed, and we are delivering on this government’s Plan for Change: to protect our borders, disrupt people-smuggling networks, and end the exploitation of vulnerable individuals.
“Our new Border Security Command, supported by £150 million in funding, is vital to this mission. It allows us to target these networks wherever they operate, undermine their profits, break their business models—all while reinforcing the security of our borders.”
Home Office Immigration Enforcement, Chief Immigration Officer Paul Moran said: “Today’s convictions are the result of a complex investigation into organised crime that stretched across Europe and took over two years of hard work by our Criminal and Financial Investigation teams in Dover and Manchester.
“Our team worked closely with the Spanish National Police, Greek Police, and Irish Garda Síochána to break up this criminal group, which was illegally smuggling non-EU nationals into the UK.
“This group put profit ahead of people’s safety, facilitating them through dangerous methods in vehicles and by air, showing no concern for the well-being of those they smuggled.”