Three people deny smuggling Vietnamese illegal immigrants across the Channel

Three defendants deny transporting four Vietnamese men across the world’s busiest shipping lane from the continent to the Kent coast.

The criminal gang behind the conspiracy did not know the smuggling operation was being recorded by undercover police officers, St Albans Crown Court was told.

Thomas Mason, 36, of High Street, Eyeworth, Hoa Thi Nguyen, 49, of Bisterne Avenue, Walthamstow, and her partner Chi Tan Huynh, 41, of Pickford’s Wharf, Hoxton, all deny being part of the conspiracy to smuggle the four men into the UK.

Hoa Thi Nguyen also denies acquiring criminal property - £29,000 of luxury items including clothing, handbags and jewellery seized from her home.

The jury has been told that four men; Wayne Lee, 46, of Grasmere Close, Watford, Nazmi Veilia, 32 of Park Street Lane, St Albans, Egert Kajaci, 35 of Turner Drive, Oxford, and Eral Gapi, 27, of Marine Tower, Deptford, have all pleaded guilty to being part of the conspiracy.

Another man, Patrick Ward, has already been prosecuted in France.

Shortly after 1am on August 3 last year, undercover officers spotted four Vietnamese men walking onto a beach before getting into a silver Audi, which was stopped by police in Deal, Kent. The driver was arrested and the four men were taken into custody.

The jury heard the pilot of the boat, Thomas Mason, was also arrested.

At court on Thursday, Phuong Dan Tran, 23, said he and three other Vietnamese men were met on a beach in France at night by a man who had arrived in a small red boat.

Mr Phuong, who was speaking through a Vietnamese interpreter, said he was not given a life-jacket and that the pilot of the boat, whose face was covered, did not speak to them.

Mr Phuong, who gave evidence behind a screen, told the jury his parents had fled their home in Vietnam because of religious persecution when he was aged 10 or 11. He was left with neighbours, but he went to China last year from Vietnam. After meeting a woman who said she could get him work he was flown to Russia, then taken by minibus with other people to a country he believed to be France.

He said: “I travelled across the jungle into China. I met a woman who spoke Vietnamese. She said she could get me some work. She said the work would be overseas.”

He said he was flown to Russia. A total of 16 people were picked up in two minibuses and kept in a house in a forest before being taken to a country that he believed was France.

Asked by prosecutor Wayne Cleaver if they asked where they were going, he replied: “They (the traffickers) said not to ask questions and not to say anything.”

Mr Cleaver said Thomas Mason had purchased the boat with Nazmi Velia from Exmouth, Devon on June 26 for £2,100 cash.

Over the next few weeks it was alleged that Thomas Mason launched the boat from the Kent coast on a couple of occasions as dummy runs.

The prosecutor said: “These journeys were not just days out for the fun of it.They were intended to test the capabilities of the boat, negotiate and familiarise themselves with the Dover Straits.”

On July 13, Mason took the boat out to sea from Whitstable at 8.30pm, returning the next morning at 5.17am.

Mr Cleaver said: “The prosecution say this was an attempt to pick-up migrants from Belgium which, for whatever reason, failed.”

Twelve days later, on July 25, the boat landed in Deal, with only Thomas Mason on board with Kajaci and Lee waiting. Again, Mason had not been able to pick up anyone from the other side of the channel. Messages between Lee and Kajaci referred to him “coming back empty handed.”

But, shortly after 1am on 3 August, officers on surveillance heard the sound of a boat engine at sea near Deal.

Mr Cleaver went on: “Four adults were seen walking from the sea and onto the beach having just landed. The location of the landing was relatively inconspicuous. The conspirators had found the perfect landing spot.”

Mr Cleaver said that Mr Mason’s co-defendant Hoa Nguyen is a Vietnamese speaker with overseas contacts.

When police raided her home they found an illegal immigrant called Tuan Nguyen (no relation) Phone evidence suggested he had arrived in the UK on May 28 or 29 last year.

Data retrieved from Hoa Nguyen’s phones showed she had been sending overseas images of travel documents via WhatsApp. During this period he said Ms Nguyen had visited Spain, Greece, Paris, Warsaw and Amsterdam.

She also made no comment to the police. In a prepared statement she denied any involvement with the conspiracy.

Mr Cleaver said numerous luxury items were seized from her home - designer clothing, handbags and jewellery, including a Rolex watch. The items were valued at retail at £29,016. This was, he said, at a time when it appeared she had very little legitimate income.

The prosecutor said Chi Tan Huynh was Hoa Nguyen’s partner. When she travelled abroad it was alleged Huynh was an alternative point of contact for the gang. He made no comment to police questions.

The case is due to last four weeks. 

The trial continues.