Five men have been convicted for people smuggling after an East London network used HGVs to move migrants to France, dodging border checks, the NCA said. The convictions bring the total to 21 members of the network now brought to justice. Prosecutors said the gang transported people from London to Kent using minicabs, then met them with lorries driven by hauliers recruited and paid for by members of the group. Among those convicted was Shuhal Ahmed, 44, who charged migrants around £1,400 each to avoid border and immigration checks and enter France illegally. His lieutenant, Suhel Ahmed, 26, collected cash from travellers and made payments to taxi drivers used to take people down to Kent to meet the trucks. Robiul Islam, 50, helped organise the taxi drivers and was himself involved in a number of crossings. The network also linked up with Nicusor Lacatus, 54, from Romania, who connected them with a complicit HGV and van driver willing to take people in exchange for a cash kickback. The NCA said it was able to evidence 10 different runs intercepted between July 2025 and January 2026. It said most of the people being transported were in the UK legally at the time, but were trying to avoid EU visa restrictions. A three-week trial at Canterbury Crown Court ended on Thursday 22 October. While most of the gang pleaded guilty, Suhel Ahmed, along with taxi drivers Md Ali Hossain, 43, Syed Ahmed, 40, Kamal Chowdhury, 47, and Shamim Ahmed, 48, all denied the charges. Sentences have been handed down. Suhel Ahmed was jailed for seven years, while Hossain and Syed Ahmed were each given six-year prison sentences. Chowdhury and Shamim Ahmed were due to be sentenced on Friday 23 October, with the remaining three men who had already admitted their roles set for sentencing on Tuesday 27 October. According to the NCA, 13 people have already received sentences between two and six years, and the investigation work continues as the agency targets and disrupts organised immigration crime networks.