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Smugglers who hid migrants in car boots jailed

Stuart RustSouth of England
News imageHome Office Custody shots of Fousseynou Soumare and Ange Clavery. Home Office
Fousseynou Soumare and Ange Clavery were jailed for a combined three years and 10 months at Bournemouth Crown Court

Two people smugglers who hid migrants in the boots of hired cars in an attempt to get them into the UK have been jailed.

Fousseynou Soumare and Ange Clavery, from France, concealed two Vietnamese nationals in the vehicles as they tried to pass through Poole Port from Cherbourg.

Border Force officers discovered two large holdall bags in the rear of each of the cars, which were being used to hide the migrants.

The pair, both aged 20, plead guilty to assisting unlawful immigration into the UK. Soumare was jailed for 22 months at Bournemouth Crown Court on 10 July, while Clavery was given a 24-month term on 14 August.

News imageHome Office A man is pictured curled into a fetal position. He is in a large black holdall in the boot of a car. He is facing away from the camera. Home Office
The Vietnamese migrants were found concealed within large holdalls in the boots of two hired cars

They said they were offered €1,000 (£856) each over Snapchat to help smuggle the migrants across the border via ferry.

The Home Office described the method deployed by the smugglers as "shocking and dangerous".

Anna Turley, minister for border security and asylum, said: "This case shows the extreme lengths that depraved people smugglers will go to in order to exploit vulnerable people.

"We will not stand by while these criminals profit from human misery."

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