Marius Draghici, 50, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to assist illegal immigration in connection with the deaths of 39 Vietnamese people found dead in a container in the UK.
The suspect, Draghici, a Romanian national, was arrested by police in the Eastern European country in August 2022 and subsequently extradited to the UK. British prosecutors have charged Draghici with 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to assist illegal immigration.
Draghici pleaded guilty at a hearing on June 23 at the Central Criminal Court in London, England; sentencing will be determined later. British authorities said Draghici's role was to help transport the 39 Vietnamese people in the container after they arrived in the country.
British forensic officers remove a container containing the bodies of 39 Vietnamese people from the scene in October 2019. Photo: Reuters
The bodies of 39 Vietnamese nationals were discovered in a refrigerated container in the Waterglade industrial park, Essex, on October 23, 2019. Investigators said they boarded the vehicle in northern France and paid traffickers more than $23,000 to cross the border into the UK.
The container carrying the victims was transported by ferry from the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium to the port of Purfleet in England overnight. The victims subsequently died from lack of oxygen and overheating in the confined space.
In 2022, a Belgian court sentenced a Vietnamese man to 15 years in prison for leading a human trafficking ring. In 2021, the UK sentenced four people to 13-27 years in prison.
French investigating judges on May 23 ordered the trial of 19 suspects who were part of a human trafficking ring linked to the case of the 39 victims found in a container, although the trial date remains unclear. The group of suspects is accused of organizing the illegal transport of migrants or owning apartments in Paris where they were hidden.
Nguyen Tien (According to AFP )
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