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A barber who used his shop as a front for a people smuggling plot has been convicted.
Gul Wali Jabarkhel, 33, of Cricklewood, used his barbershop in nearby Colindale as a base for his smuggling scheme in which he was attempting to recruit lorry drivers to bring migrants to the UK, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
He was among four men who were convicted on Monday after a trial at Kingston Crown Court for their roles as part of a gang of “ruthless operators who regarded human beings as little more than goods to profit from”, the NCA said.
Jabarkhel – who claimed he had links with Albanian criminals abroad – offered a driver £2,500 in September 2020 for each person smuggled in from France or Belgium, with payment to be made on completion.
He was reluctant to smuggle more than five migrants at a time due to the risk of detection, but wanted to secure an ongoing deal with the driver, who would make smuggling runs up to three times a month.
Gul Wali Jabarkhel. Credit: National Crime Agency
The first run was scheduled for November 9, 2020, which involved smuggling migrants from Belgium, but Jabarkhel abandoned it.
Instead, he and co-defendant Baz Mohammed Jabarkhil, 47, of Mill Hill,left the UK and flew to Kabul, Afghanistan.
NCA detectives worked to stop them returning, in a bid to stop their people smuggling plans.
The pair made repeated attempts to re-enter the UK illegally using the lorry drivers they had tried to recruit. A plan was hatched for this in April 2021, which they were to pay £7,500 each for.
Baz Mohammed Jabarkhil. Credit: National Crime Agency
They turned to fellow gang members Rehan Murudkar, 19, of Edgware, and Mohammad Rafique, 28, of Dollis Hill, for help as they were both out of the country.
They arranged a cash handover at the London Gateway Services on the M1 to help the pair’s return to the UK.
Murudkar and Rafique were unaware they were being watched by the NCA and…
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Source : times
