Mastermind pleads guilty to the suffocation deaths of 39 Vietnamese in a container.

Defendant Marius Mihai Draghici (small photo) and the crime scene.

AFP reported on June 23 that a Romanian man accused of being the ringleader of a human trafficking ring has pleaded guilty in connection with the 2019 deaths of 39 Vietnamese who suffocated in a container in the UK.

The defendant, Marius Mihai Draghici (50 years old), was arrested in Romania in August 2022 and prosecuted by British prosecutors on 39 counts of murder and conspiracy to assist illegal immigration.

The defendant pleaded guilty to the charges in court in London (England) on June 23 and will be sentenced on a date to be determined later.

The victims, including two 15-year-old teenagers, suffocated inside a truck container while en route to England. Their bodies were discovered in a container at a port near London on October 23, 2019.

The case has sparked outrage over human trafficking into the UK and the exploitation by criminal gangs. Each victim had to pay up to £13,000 to be brought to the UK.

In 2021, two other traffickers were sentenced to 27 and 20 years in prison, respectively, in connection with the case, while the two truck drivers received sentences of 13 and 18 years.

Additionally, four other men were sentenced to prison in England for conspiracy to facilitate illegal immigration, and another received a 10-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to minor involvement in the scheme.

Belgium has convicted 19 people in a human trafficking ring linked to the deaths of 39 Vietnamese who suffocated in a container.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/ke-chu-muu-nhan-toi-vu-39-nguoi-viet-chet-ngat-trong-container-185230623234559101.htm