Latest news with #illegalImmigration
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Yahoo
Nine plead guilty to federal human smuggling charges, leader remains at large
Jun. 19—Nine members of what prosecutors describe as a human smuggling ring have entered guilty pleas in federal court, but the alleged leader of the group remains at large more than two years after his indictment. Ronaldo Galindo Lopez-Escobar, 74, and nine others were indicted in May 2023 in connection with a scheme to smuggle people from Central America into the U.S. across New Mexico's southern border, federal court records show. Lopez-Escobar, of Guatemala City, Guatemala, the alleged leader of the "Lopez crime family," so far has avoided arrest, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico said in a statement. Lopez-Escobar coordinated the smuggling of Central Americans through Mexico and through Luna and Hidalgo counties through a network of "foot guides, drivers and caretakers" in exchange for money, the indictment alleges. Illegal immigrants were shuttled through "stash houses" in Phoenix and elsewhere bound for destinations including Los Angeles, it alleges. Payments were made through peer-to-peer money transfer apps, including Zelle. The acts cited in the indictment date from October 2021 to April 2023. Nine people, all residents of Arizona and California, have pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces to conspiracy to bring in, transport and harbor illegal aliens. The scheme involved drivers who were instructed to pick up groups of undocumented immigrants at locations including Deming and Animas and take them to "stash locations" in exchange for a fee, the indictment said. On several occasions in 2021 and 2022, transport vehicles were stopped by Border Patrol agents, it said. Of the nine who have pleaded guilty, four have been sentenced to terms ranging from a year of probation to 45 months in prison. Sentencing hearings for the others are pending.
Fox News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Democrats are ADDICTED to Cheap Labor
Democrats are ADDICTED to Cheap Labor The Democrat Party is framing their ANTI-ICE fight as 'compassionate' but it's really about cheap labor. I'm Tomi Lahren, more next. LA Mayor Karen Bass isn't even trying to mask it anymore. In interview after interview she demands the ICE raids stop due to their impact on the economy. Fun fact, not only is California home to the largest population of illegal immigrants, LA has at least 800,000. And moreover, over 1 million LA residents live with someone who is here illegally. According to a 2020 study by USC Dornsife, about 11% of LA's workforce is 'undocumented.' So when Mayor Karen Bass cries about ending the raids, what she means is, don't take away my cheap labor. These companies and industries that rely on illegal immigrants want us to feel sorry for them if their cheap illegal alien labor is taken away but sorry, no. Do NOT expect the American people to play Russian roulette with our lives and our family's lives with unvetted and undocumented cheap illegal alien laborers so you can cut your payroll costs! Americans WILL do the jobs for a FAIR AND DECENT wage! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
People smuggling gang hid immigrants behind vehicle dashboard
Seven members of a people smuggling gang who hid migrants behind vehicle dashboards have been group, which also used a forgery factory in Greece to alter identity documents, brought people to the United Kingdom either by plane or Border Force officers found a Vietnamese woman "dangerously concealed inside a cramped compartment" behind a dashboard in a vehicle heading to England from France in June 2022, the Home Office gang's ringleader, Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin, was sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court to 13 years in prison for offences including conspiring to assist unlawful immigration and possessing an identity document with improper intention. The driver of the vehicle in which the woman was found, Jozef Balog, pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration.A month after the first woman was discovered, Border Force officers stopped the gang trying to smuggle another vulnerable woman in a secret compartment behind the dashboard of their a hearing in October, Emily Etherington pleaded guilty to facilitating illegal entry into the UK. She was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two partner, Redar Curtis, admitted the same offence following a trial and was jailed for four years and six months. The Home Office launched a wider international investigation which led to the arrest of five other gang members across the Jamal Hamadamin was arrested at Manchester Airport in November searched, his phone contained images of passports and boarding passes, along with messages between the gang about the creation and distribution of false younger brother, Muhamad Jamal Hamadamin, has also been also found counterfeit documents, more than 20,000 illicit cigarettes and £6,000 in investigation is under way to recover the gang's illegal profits."This gang put profit over lives, cramming people into sophisticated hides and planning dangerous border crossings for the most vulnerable," said Phillip Parr, who leads the immigration enforcement, criminal and financial investigations Security and Asylum Minister Dame Angela Eagle said: "The unlawful activities of this gang is an example of the lengths people smugglers will go to for profit. "Their ruthless disregard for human safety is sickening and shocking." The eight gang members were:Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin, 43, of Brook Road in Stockport, was jailed for 13 yearsMuhamad Jamal Hamadamin, 28, of Brook Road in Stockport, was jailed for 18 monthsYassen Jalal Mohammed, 44, of Woodhouse Grove in Huddersfield, was sentenced to three years and two months in prisonDlawar Omar, 40, of Pendrill Street in Hull, was sentenced to three years and one monthEmily Etherington, 38, of Guernsey Way in Ashford, Kent, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two yearsRedar Curtis, 30, of Guernsey Way in Kennington, London, was jailed for four years and six monthsJozef Kadet, 26, of Constable Street, Manchester, was sentenced to four years and two months in prisonKhales Akram Jabar, 44, of Barnaby Avenue, Middlesbrough, was jailed for two years Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Climate
- Telegraph
Warm temperatures mean more migrants on the way, Government told
Warm temperatures and calm weather conditions could result in an increase in Channel crossings, the Government has been told. Good weather predicted in the South East of England has prompted warnings that next week could see a particularly high number of small boats crossing the Channel. Independent modelling has forecast that 2025 is on course to become a record year for illegal crossings. Temperatures across Britain are set to be above average for the second half of June, with highs of 84F (29C) around London, according to the Met Office. Sir Keir Starmer has urged Emmanuel Macron, the French president, to do more to tackle the crossings from northern France. If the weather remains favourable, Dr Richard Wood, data expert, has predicted arrivals will hit nearly 46,000 this year, which would be on a par with the record in 2022 and 20 per cent higher than last year. Along the south-east coast, the wind speed is expected to remain between a light and a moderate breeze, at points as low as 4mph, this week. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: 'The Labour Government has lost control of our borders. This year so far has been the worst in history for illegal immigrants crossing the Channel. This coming week promises more of the same. 'The Government must urgently get the French to prevent these crossings completely. We've paid them nearly half-a-billion pounds to do this, yet they are failing.' He added that the UK should suspend the 12-year fishing deal with the European Union, which allows French fishermen continued access to British waters, until the boats stop. The Prime Minister told reporters that he will be discussing illegal Channel crossings with Mr Macron and other leaders at the G7 summit this week in Canada. Asked if France was doing enough to tackle the issue, Sir Keir said: 'One of the things we've worked hard at is improving the relations with the French in relation to the work we both need to do to stop these boat crossings, which I'm determined we will absolutely bear down on. Nobody should be making that journey. 'As a result of that we are seeing a much greater co-operation in northern France – I want to see more co-operation in northern France, and it's an issue that I have raised and will raise again with president Macron.' 'We have good relations between the Home Secretary and the [French] interior minister now that we're working jointly.' The Home Office released figures earlier this month that showed the number of 'red days', when conditions are thought favourable for Channel crossings, in the year 2024-25. They showed that the proportion of red days in the year reached a new peak, with 190 days in the 12 months to April 2025, an 80 per cent rise on last year. Dr Wood's research shows the weather is so critical that the odds of an unviable day, when there will be no crossings, increase by 11 per cent for every centimetre of wave height, reduce by 6 per cent for every degree of sea temperature and rise by 10 per cent for each hour of eight to 12 knot westerly winds. 'Temperatures above average' Nicola Maxey from the Met Office said: 'Our long-range outlook does suggest that temperatures during the second half of June are likely to be above average, with the possibility of some hot spells, particularly in the South East.' According to the Met's forecast, mist and fog is likely to clear for most of the country on Monday to leave a 'fine day' with warm sunny spells. From Tuesday to Thursday, high pressure will bring drier and sunnier weather from the south. Temperatures are expected to be near normal in the North, with very warm conditions returning to the South East. Throughout the rest of June, most of the UK is expected to experience good weather with a low risk of thundery showers in the west, according to the Met Office's long-term forecast. During the first weeks of July temperatures are expected again to be at or above normal levels with some hot spells in the South East.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Daily Mail
Gang who smuggled Vietnamese woman into Britain stuffed in glovebox of a Vauxhall Vectra are jailed
A people smuggling gang who crammed a Vietnamese woman into the glovebox of a Vauxhall Vectra in a bid to sneak her into Britain have been jailed after their sprawling criminal network was brought crashing down. The woman was discovered curled up inside a secret compartment carved out of the dashboard in June 2022, sparking a major probe that eventually unmasked a ruthless trafficking operation stretching across Europe. The gang, led by 43-year-old Kurdish-born barber Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin from Stockport, used crudely adapted vehicles to ferry illegal immigrants into the UK. Border officers later also uncovered forged identity documents, £6,000 in cash and 20,000 illicit cigarettes. Hamadamin, a UK citizen who smuggled himself into Britain in the back of a lorry in 2002, ran the operation even after being arrested and charged by courts in Spain. He and seven accomplices were sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy, which ran between June 2022 and February 2024. Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court heard how Hamadamin oversaw a network that helped migrants, mainly from Iraq and Vietnam, travel into the EU on fake documents before reaching Britain via routes through Malaga, Dublin and Belfast. Prosecutor Dan Calder said Hamadamin's gang created and supplied false EU identity papers and passports, meeting clients in a Malaga EasyHotel before sending them to the UK where they would submit asylum claims. One of the most shocking moments of the case came when a Vauxhall Vectra driven by gang member Josef Kadet, 25, from Hungary, was stopped in Dover. Border Force officers found a woman hidden in a custom-built compartment beneath the dashboard. A vehicle examiner said the airbag, heating and air con had been ripped out and fuses and wiring shifted to make room for the woman, with the entire job taking up to 12 weeks to build. 'The dangerousness of these modifications perhaps need no explanation,' said Mr Calder, calling the adaptations 'highly dangerous' and warning they could cause injury or death in a crash. Following the discovery, Hamadamin recruited Redar Curtis and his wife Emily Etherington into the gang. The couple, from Kennington, stooped to using a child as a 'human shield' by placing them in the front passenger seat while smuggling an illegal immigrant from France, the court heard. Phone messages later revealed Curtis had told his wife 'don't stop' until she returned home with the smuggled person, warning they wouldn't be paid otherwise. In another case, a third Vauxhall Vectra was intercepted in Dover in August 2022 with yet another hidden passenger. This time, the driver was gang member Dlawar Omar. With border pressure increasing, the group shifted tactics. Instead of stuffing people into vehicles, they began producing fake EU documents to help individuals fly from Spain to Dublin and into Britain via Northern Ireland. Mr Calder said Hamadamin personally aided at least 14 people to enter the country illegally in this way. His financial records revealed an £18,000 cash deposit into his account during the conspiracy. Another gang member, Khales Akram Jabar, was paid £1,750 to fly alongside two Iraqi women using fake documents. Prosecutors accepted that one of the women may have been his wife. At court, Hamadamin's lawyer Henry Blackshaw claimed his client's role was 'modest' in comparison to the wider problem of people trafficking. He described the Vauxhalls as 'crudely modified' and presented a letter from Hamadamin's daughter who said her father was a 'role model' to her. Mr Blackshaw said his client had originally fled Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, arriving in Britain hidden in a lorry before working at a car wash in Trafford and later in barbershops where he became involved in people trafficking. Judge Jonathan Seely told the gang: 'This was a cynical, highly organised conspiracy to exploit illegal immigrants, and expose them to death and or horrific injury for financial gain, for greed.' He said the adapted Vectras were 'quite literally a death trap' for those being smuggled. Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin, 43, pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration to the United Kingdom, one count of conspiracy to make an article for use in a fraud and one count of possession of an identity document with improper intention. He was jailed for 13 years. His brother, Muhamad Jamal Hamadamin, 27, admitted two counts of fraud and one count of possessing an identity document with improper intention and was sentenced to 18 months. Yassen Jalal Mohammed, 43, admitted three counts of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and received a 38-month prison term. Dlawar Omar, 40, was sentenced to three years and one month after pleading guilty to the same offence. Emily Etherington, 37, admitted her role and was handed a two-year suspended sentence and ordered to complete 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days. Her husband, Redar Curtis, 30, was found guilty after trial and jailed for four-and-a-half years. Josef Kadet, 25, was jailed for four years and two months and Khales Akram Jabar, 44, was jailed for two years. Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said: 'This case shows the ruthless tactics of criminal gangs who smuggle people through Europe and into the UK. 'They have no regard for human life and exploit vulnerable individuals solely for profit, putting them in incredibly dangerous situations. 'Our investigators have worked tirelessly to track down this gang, gather critical evidence and bring them to justice. Our investigators' efforts mean that this gang's operations have been dismantled, their profits slashed, and we are delivering on this government's Plan for Change: to protect our borders, disrupt people-smuggling networks, and end the exploitation of vulnerable individuals. 'Our new Border Security Command, supported by £150 million in funding, is vital to this mission. It allows us to target these networks wherever they operate, undermine their profits, break their business models—all while reinforcing the security of our borders.' Home Office Immigration Enforcement, Chief Immigration Officer Paul Moran added: 'Today's convictions are the result of a complex investigation into organised crime that stretched across Europe and took over two years of hard work by our Criminal and Financial Investigation teams in Dover and Manchester. 'Our team worked closely with the Spanish National Police, Greek Police, and Irish Garda Síochána to break up this criminal group, which was illegally smuggling non-EU nationals into the UK. 'This group put profit ahead of people's safety, facilitating them through dangerous methods in vehicles and by air, showing no concern for the well-being of those they smuggled. We are committed to stopping dangerous criminal networks and protecting our borders.
