Dilshad Shamo and Ali Khdir (Image: National Crime Agency)
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A pair who organised a large-scale people smuggling network from behind the front of a hand car wash in Caerphilly have been sentenced to a combined 38 years in prison.
The operation
Dilshad Shamo, 43, originally from Iraq, and Ali Khdir, 42, originally from Iran, used the Fast Track Car Wash on Pontygwindy Road in Caerphilly as a base for their smuggling activities. While the premises did operate as a functioning car wash, the court heard it also served as a cover for their illegal enterprise.
The pair arranged the movement of large numbers of migrants – predominantly from Iran, Iraq and Syria – across multiple European countries including Italy, Romania, Croatia, Germany, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Austria and France. Migrants were charged thousands of pounds for the service, which a judge described as a “well-organised and successful” travel agency with an estimated turnover of £1.8 million over just six months.
The routes
Prosecutor Sarah Gaunt outlined four distinct smuggling methods used by the pair. One involved migrants legally crossing into Turkey before being transported illegally by ship to Italy. A second used tourist visas to enter countries such as Belarus and Moldova, from where migrants would be trafficked into Romania, Germany or Austria. A third method concealed people inside lorries to be moved by road or sea to Italy and Germany. The fourth used cars or taxis to transport individuals through Bosnia into Croatia or Slovenia and onwards to Italy.
The phones
National Crime Agency officers raided the car wash and recovered hidden mobile phones containing messages linked to the trafficking operQation. One phone belonging to Shamo was found concealed behind a seat, with a username matching his first name. A phone seized from Khdir contained a second SIM card hidden inside its case, and a further device linked to Shamo was connected to multiple phone numbers. All three phones were subjected to forensic examination.
Sentencing
The pair initially denied the charges but changed their pleas after two weeks of evidence was presented against them at Cardiff Crown Court. Both admitted five counts of conspiring to breach migration laws in Italy, Romania, Croatia and Germany. The offences were committed between October 2022 and April 2023 under the Immigration Act 1971.
The Recorder of Cardiff, Tracey Lloyd Clarke, told them: “You were both the organisers of a large and sophisticated network which enabled the successful illegal movement of a very large number of migrants from Iran, Iraq, and Syria into and across Europe.”
She added: “You provided that service to almost anyone who was prepared to pay your fees.”
Shamo and Khdir were each jailed for 19 years and ordered to serve a minimum of 40 per cent of their sentences in custody.
