Indian man jailed for over 5 years in U.K.-France people smuggling case

An Indian man who admitted smuggling migrants from Britain to France in the back of trucks has been sentenced to more than five years in prison by a court in south-east England.

Jaskirat Singh, 25, was prosecuted by the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for his role in facilitating the illegal movement of non-British citizens between December 2024 and March 2026.

He pleaded guilty earlier this month to conspiracy to facilitate illegal immigration.

Singh, who was sentenced by Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday, June 18, 2026, is believed to have made around £185,000 from illegal operations.

“The conspiracy was exposed when 11 Indian nationals were found hiding in the trailer of a lorry stopped in Dover in December 2024. The information they provided, along with four other Indians in a separate lorry bound for France in January 2025, led authorities to Singh and his address in Wolverhampton,” the CPS said. he said.

The CPS said an investigation led by the Immigration Service uncovered extensive incriminating material on Singh’s mobile devices, including voice notes, images, messages and videos. Some of the footage was recorded from TikTok and advertised passages to France.

He was sentenced to five years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to assist illegal immigration into a member state.

“Jaskirat Singh played a key role in organizing the illegal movement of people from the UK to France using lorries, placing individuals at serious risk in the process,” CPS South East District Crown Prosecutor Peter Cockrill said.

“The evidence showed he coordinated drivers, arranged payments and actively participated in an operation that lasted months,” Cockrill said, adding: “We will now apply for a confiscation order to recover as much of his criminal profits as possible.”

Singh was arrested and interrogated by Immigration Service officers and subsequently charged.

The evidence included a video, presumably taken by Singh, showing a large number of £20 notes spread out on the bed.

In another video shot by someone else, migrants are seen getting off a truck at an unknown location, with the person filming saying “England to France”, suggesting it was a successful smuggling incident.

“Singh boasted in a voicemail that he had successfully arranged for up to 60 people to be flown to France every week for nine months, but it is not clear whether he was exaggerating to get more business,” the CPS said.

A series of messages dated June 2025 found on Singh’s phone included a Romanian mobile phone number discussing payment for 15 people smuggled to France in a truck. The chat confirmed that the driver was paid £5,500 for the “human cargo”.

The CPS said confiscation proceedings will now be initiated to recover the proceeds of Singh’s criminal activities and ensure he does not benefit from them in the future.