A man has been jailed for two years after he tried to smuggle a Somali woman into the UK through Stansted Airport.
Maxammed Mascuud, 46, was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday). He had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to a charge of facilitating a breach of the UK’s immigration laws.
Mascuud, of Polruan Place, Milton Keynes, was arrested by Border Force officers on January 23 after arriving at Stansted Airport on a flight from Dusseldorf in Germany.
Suspicions were raised when he told officers at passport control that he had arrived from Frankfurt, a flight that had landed almost an hour earlier.
While Mascuud was being dealt with, Border Force officers were also in the process of raising concerns about a woman who had presented a suspicious British passport having arrived on the same Dusseldorf flight.
Further enquiries revealed that Mascuud and the woman, identified as 33-year-old Somali Amina Mohamedi, had booked their flights together, checked in together and boarded the flight together.
Denise Robinson, who took on the case for the Home Office’s criminal and financial investigations team, said: “As the investigation developed we also uncovered photographs on Mascuud’s mobile phone of Mohamedi herself and of her false passport.
“It was clear that he had acted as her agent from the very start and the weight of evidence against him was ultimately overwhelming.
“Make no mistake, Mascuud’s actions were not altruistic. His motivation was financial, pure and simple.
“I hope the tough sentence that has been handed down sends a strong message to those who would cheat the immigration system – you will be caught and the consequences will be severe.”
Mohamedi was charged with possessing a false ID document with intent. She also admitted her offence, and has been remanded in custody for sentencing on November 27.
The criminal and financial investigations team consists of warranted Home Office immigration enforcement officers working alongside seconded police officers to investigate organised immigration crime.
Border Force officers are on the front line of the fight against immigration crime and detect banned and restricted goods that smugglers attempt to bring into the country.
Anyone who has information on suspected immigration offenders can visit https://www.gov.uk/report-immigration-crime, while anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to smuggling can call the Border Force hotline on 0800 59 5000.
Source and Read more: http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/8203-Man-jailed-years-attempting-smuggle-Somali/story-28078798-detail/story.html#ixzz3q1lmLl9P