Border Force officers found the Vietnamese woman hidden in a cramped compartment behind the dashboard of a car in June 2022.
This discovery led to an investigation that unveiled a people smuggling network, resulting in the seizure of counterfeit documents, more than 20,000 illicit cigarettes, and £6,000 in cash.
Three members of the gang were put on trial, having denied assisting unlawful immigration to the UK.
Khales Akram Jabar, 44, of Barnaby Avenue, Middlesbrough, Redar Curtis, 30, of Guernsey Way, Kennington, and Jozef Kadet, 25, of Constable Street, Manchester, were each found guilty at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Wednesday.
(Image: Home Office/PA Wire) The court heard how the gang worked together between 2022 and 2024 to unlawfully facilitate immigration to the UK via land and air.
They also created and possessed counterfeit identity documents believed to have been made using a Greek forgery factory, according to the Home Office.
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Five members of the gang, brothers Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin, 43, and Muhamad Jamal Hamadamin, 27, Yassen Jalal Mohammed, 43, Dlawar Omar, 40, and Curtis’ wife, Emily Etherington, 37, pleaded guilty to charges put against them.
The investigation was initiated by the discovery at the UK border of a Vietnamese woman hiding in a cramped compartment behind the dashboard of a vehicle driven by Jozef Balog in June 2022 upon his return from France.
Balog pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in January last year.
In July 2022, Etherington was stopped by Border Force officers after they found she was hiding another woman in the dashboard of her vehicle.
Her husband, Curtis, was then linked to the operation, prompting the Home Office to launch a wider investigation.
The group of eight will appear at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on January 29 for a hearing where a sentencing date is expected to be set.
Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said: “This case shows the ruthless tactics of criminal gangs who smuggle people through Europe and into the UK.
“They have no regard for human life and exploit vulnerable individuals solely for profit, putting them in incredibly dangerous situations.”
Chief immigration officer at Home Office Immigration Enforcement, Paul Moran, said: “Today’s convictions are the result of a complex investigation into organised crime that stretched across Europe and took over two years of hard work by our Criminal and Financial Investigation teams in Dover and Manchester.
“Our team worked closely with the Spanish National Police, Greek Police and Irish (An) Garda Siochana to break up this criminal group, which was illegally smuggling non-EU nationals into the UK.
“This group put profit ahead of people’s safety, facilitating them through dangerous methods in vehicles and by air, showing no concern for the wellbeing of those they smuggled.”