Sentences ranging from six months to five years in prison were handed down Thursday by the Beauvais Criminal Court against 14 Sri Lankans for their involvement in the smuggling of irregular migrants.
The defendants, aged 32 to 58, were convicted of having helped Sri Lankan and Bengali migrants to cross illegally, in particular from Ukraine, several European countries to France or the United Kingdom, thanks to their contacts in several Eastern European countries.
Facts committed between November 2019 and April 2021.
Up to four years in prison
The main defendant, who ran the sector from a small grocery store based in Sérifontaine (Oise), was sentenced to four years in prison, including one year suspended, with continued detention.
It was he who fixed the conditions of passage, the routes, the number of migrants to be transported, the organization of the corruption of certain civil servants from Eastern countries as well as the negotiation of tariffs.
Three of his accomplices, themselves former migrants who became smugglers and live in the Paris region, were sentenced to terms ranging from twelve months in prison, six of which were suspended, to three years in prison with continued detention and fines of 1000 and 4000 euros.
Another defendant, based in the United Kingdom and who is increasing the appeals against his extradition, was sentenced to five years in prison and a permanent ban from French territory.
Nine accomplices, whose place was considered to be more secondary in this traffic, were sentenced to terms ranging from six to 30 months in prison, most having already served their sentence in pre-trial detention.
The prosecution had requested sentences ranging from six months to six years in prison.
The investigation was conducted by the Central Office for the Suppression of Irregular Immigration and the Employment of Undocumented Foreigners (OCRIEST).
