Romanian lorry driver, 48,arrested for trying to smuggle migrants out of the UK

Romanian lorry driver, 48, ‘tries to smuggle migrants out of Britain twice including alleged child sex offender – with nine found in the back of his lorry booked onto a ferry to France’

  • Sebastian Gabriel Podar, 48, was arrested in Dover on December 2 by the NCA
  • Officers found nine people in his trailer as the truck was about to board a ferry 
  • One man n was a suspected paedophile wanted by detectives in Nottingham 
  • Podar was remanded in custody to appear in Canterbury Crown Court  

A Romanian lorry driver has been charged with attempting to smuggle migrants out of the UK including one man suspected of child sex offences. 

Sebastian Gabriel Podar, 48, was arrested at Dover Port on December 2 as he waited to board a cross channel ferry to France. 

Officers from the National Crime Agency searched the truck and discovered nine people hidden in the back, including a 39-year-old Bangladeshi man who was under investigation for child sex offences by Nottinghamshire Police. 

Sebastian Gabriel Podar, 48, was arrested at Dover Port on December 2 as he waited to board a cross channel ferry to France with nine migrants hidden in the back of his truck, pictured

The nine migrants included a 39-year-old Bangladeshi man who was wanted by police in Nottinghamshire on suspicion of child sex abuse offences

The nine migrants included a 39-year-old Bangladeshi man who was wanted by police in Nottinghamshire on suspicion of child sex abuse offences

He has been handed over to detectives in Nottingham and faces charges. 

The eight other people were Indian, Algerian and Bangladeshi. They were all handed over to UK Border Force for processing. 

On October 16, Podar had been stopped by police in Edmonton, north London who discovered six migrants in the back of his truck. 

According to the NCA, he was using the same truck when arrested for a second time earlier this week. 

He was charged with two counts of ‘attempting to facilitate a breach of immigration law’. 

He appeared at Margate Magistrates’ Court on December 3 and was remanded to reappear at Canterbury Crown Court on January 4. 

Chris Hill of the NCA said: ‘Organised immigration crime is a priority for the NCA and we are determined to do all we can to disrupt and dismantle criminal networks involved in people smuggling.

‘Complicit lorry drivers and the networks behind them are using both legs of their journeys to smuggle migrants into and out of the UK to maximise their profits.

‘I hope these arrests send out a clear message to the drivers involved in this activity, and those considering fleeing the UK in this manner for whatever reason.

‘This operation involved the NCA working in partnership with Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and Nottinghamshire Police.’

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