Two years extra prison sentence for people smuggling in refrigerated containers

On February 17, 2021, the emergency services received an emergency call from a refrigerated container in the outer harbor of Zeebrugge. Eight people were hidden in a load of brioche bread. However, the cargo was rejected, so the ventilation was turned off. The victims had already tried unsuccessfully to break open the container with an iron bar.

Three days later, another six transmigrants raised the alarm when they were in a refrigerated container with oxygen shortage. Thanks to the mobile phones of the victims, the investigators discovered a link with a people smuggling gang from the Rennes region. The organization would have used a building in Alençon as a base.

Also punished here

The duo already received five years and 18 months in prison in France, but they could also receive a sentence here: the French judges were not aware of those life-threatening circumstances in Zeebrugge. The defense argued in vain that one of them should be acquitted because he had already been convicted of those offences. “He played a role as a driver in France, but he didn’t know where those people were going.” The other is still in a French prison and was not present in Bruges.