Albanian fixer who helped dinghy gangs smuggle people across Channel jailed
An Albanian woman who worked as a fixer for crime gangs smuggling people across the Channel has been jailed for more than seven years.
Ujeza Kumekaj, 32, orchestrated the small boat crossings from France for fellow Albanians before being arrested at her home in Banbury, Oxfordshire, last year.
Investigations unearthed hundreds of messages on her phone which revealed her’key role’ in linking people smugglers with passengers.
She sent instructions to contacts in France on who they should pick up, with messages such as ‘family one 3 women, children 14 17 12 years old’ and ‘we have here one family, man wife one child’.
Other conversations indicated conditions, including ‘very bad sea’ and map location pins instructing where to pick migrants up or where boats were positioned in the Channel.
Further exchanges showed people making contact with her to arrange crossings for their families.
Her phone also contained 21 images of Albanian ID cards and passports which, when checked on immigration systems, showed that nine of the individuals had arrived in the UK by small boat.
She was arrested last October before being charged in September 2023 with facilitating illegal immigration.
Kumekaj pleaded guilty at Oxford Crown Court earlier this month and was jailed for seven-and-a-half years.
She will be deported automatically on her release from prison.
Senior investigating officer Andy MacGill said: ‘Ujeza Kurmekaj played a major role as a broker, linking migrants with people smugglers who could transport them on dangerous journeys across the Channel.
‘For this, she would arrange payments of hundreds of euros per person. Kurmekaj had little interest in the safety and security of the people she was arranging crossings for, only that she and her employers received payment.’
Mr MacGill said he will continue to target offenders involved at every step of the people smuggling journey.
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