A people smuggling network has been handed a combined total of more than 84 years in jail after its final members were sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court. The National Crime Agency investigation led to convictions of 21 people who evaded border checks by hiding migrants in lorries to transport them to France. Sentencing across the case has resulted in jail terms totalling more than 84 years. Shuhal Ahmed, 44, a ringleader of the East London-based gang, appeared at court on Wednesday 28 October. He charged migrants around £1,400 each to help them evade border and immigration checks and enter France illegally. Ahmed admitted people smuggling offences and was sentenced to eight and a half years. Also sentenced was Robiul Islam, 50, a minicab driver who drove migrants from London to Kent to meet lorries and vans planned for the Channel crossing. Islam helped organise other drivers to carry out the same route, and was jailed for five years. The final member, Qasim Jan, 55, another minicab driver involved in transporting migrants, was sentenced to four years. The NCA said it was able to evidence 10 different smuggling runs between July 2025 and January 2026. The majority of people were transported in the UK legally at the time, but they were attempting to avoid restrictions on entering the EU. The last sentencing hearing followed convictions of five other men who were found guilty of facilitating illegal immigration after a three-week trial at Canterbury Crown Court. Their jail terms ranged from seven to four years. The sentencing completes the NCA’s investigation, with the entire network dismantled from organisers down to the drivers used to transport migrants illegally.