Court sentences man to prison for smuggling Vietnamese women into UK

Jozef Balog, a Slovakian national, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison at Canterbury Crown Court (UK) for assisting illegal immigration. According to images taken by immigration officers, the Vietnamese woman hid in a small compartment designed under the glove box of a Vauxhall Vectra car.

The UK-registered car was stopped by the UK Border Force at a checkpoint in Squelleles, northern France, in June 2022. Balog, 33, told officers he was returning home to Manchester after visiting relatives.

Image of a Vietnamese woman hiding in a small compartment designed under the glove box of a Vauxhall Vectra car. (Photo: Crown)

However, British Border Force officers searched the car and found a suspicious item behind the glove box. They then began to dismantle the front of the car and remove the glove box. Through this, the authorities discovered a Vietnamese woman hiding there.

The car was said to have been modified and parts removed to create a small compartment for the woman to hide in.

The Home Office said the Vietnamese woman entered the country illegally and had been served with “the necessary paperwork.” It added that Balog had pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration in June 2022 and had been remanded in custody for 40 months.

Previously, the UK has detected many cases of smuggling Vietnamese people into the UK illegally. These people often have to work in the sex industry, beauty salons and nail shops. They are paid low wages, sometimes have all their documents confiscated and are victims of violence.

In 2019, Britain was shocked by the discovery of 39 bodies of illegal Vietnamese immigrants in the back of a lorry at an industrial estate in Grays, Essex. In connection with the case, defendant Marius Draghici, 50, from Romania, admitted 39 counts of manslaughter and one count of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. This trafficker was sentenced to 12 years and 7 months in July 2023.

Kong Anh (Source: sg.news.yahoo.com)

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