Suspected people-smuggling gang charged after Dover arrests

Five people from a suspected organised crime gang have been arrested and charged with attempting to smuggle migrants out of the UK via Kent.

Earlier this week, a National Crime Agency (NCA) surveillance operation saw taxis used to transport 23 people from London to a location near Whitstable.

The passengers, all Bangladeshi nationals, were then loaded onto a lorry headed for the ferry port at Dover. The vehicle was stopped by NCA officers, who also seized around £30,000 in cash from a property.

The group's suspected ringleader, along with three taxi drivers and a lorry driver, were due to appear at magistrates' courts in Margate, Sevenoaks and Bromley on Wednesday.

Shuhal Ahmed, 43, from Watts Grove, London, E3, and Robuil Islam, 49, from Harbord Square, E14, were both charged with conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration and money laundering.

Qasim Jan, 54, from Southwold Road, E5, Shamim Ahmed, 47, from Tarling Street, E1, and Ukrainian-born Romanian passport holder Ivan Garaga, 31, of no fixed UK address, were all charged with conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration.

The group is alleged to have been involved in a number of attempts to move mostly Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals out of the UK in lorries, to avoid border controls and French entry restrictions.

NCA Branch Commander Saju Sasikumar said: "Organised crime groups involved in people smuggling risk the safety of those they transport, and also threaten the border security of both the UK and France."

Back in November 2025 the NCA issued a warning that criminal gangs were actively recruiting HGV drivers to smuggle migrants both into and out of the UK.

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