Truck driver guilty of killing 58 illegal migrants

By KIM SENGUPTA

LONDON - A Dutch truck driver was jailed for 14 years yesterday for killing 58 Chinese who suffocated in the back of his container lorry as he smuggled them into Britain.

Perry Wacker, aged 33, from Rotterdam, who closed the air vent to cut the noise, was sentenced to six years on 58 counts of manslaughter and eight years for conspiracy to smuggle illegal immigrants. His co-defendant Ying Guo, 30, a Chinese translator and organiser for Chinese criminal gangs, was sentenced to six years for conspiracy.

A huge and sophisticated international human trafficking operation by Chinese gangsters has been revealed at the trial in Maidstone Crown Court, Kent.

The "Snakehead" criminals took illegal immigrants from China to Britain for up to £20,000 ($70,600) each, raking in profits estimated in billions. Wacker, a smalltime fraudster, was paid £500 each to get them across the Channel.

But the case also raised disturbing questions about whether Dutch and British police knew in advance about Wacker's fatal journey to Dover and whether the deaths could have been avoided.

There is talk of a failure of communication between officials in the two countries and claims that a "sting" operation had gone wrong.

Two months before Wacker's journey, police stopped his friend Leo Nijveen at Dover with 50 Chinese hidden in his container truck. Nijveen was released without criminal charges after just one hour and four minutes of questioning.

British authorities claim it is official policy to liaise fully with foreign law agencies to combat organised illegal immigration but the Independent has seen police documents in which the officer who interviewed him, Detective Constable Christopher D'Ardenne, has said no details of the case were passed to Dutch police.

A source at the National Crime Intelligence Service also said there appeared to be no record of the details being passed on.

In the Netherlands, police were watching a Turkish gangster called Gurzel Ozcan who had been hired by the Snakeheads to organise Wacker's trip. But there were no attempts to stop Wacker leaving Rotterdam with his Chinese cargo, behind crates of tomatoes.

The Dutch authorities said the watch had been called off a few days before, but refused to reveal why. Ozcan and Nijveen are among 11 Dutch and Turkish nationals on trial in the Netherlands on charges in connection with the deaths in Dover.

At a Dutch court hearing at London's Horseferry Rd magistrates' court, defence lawyers asked British Customs why Wacker's lorry was stopped. An English judge allowed Customs to refuse the answer the questions on grounds of public interest immunity.

Yesterday, Wacker, trembled slightly when the judge passed his sentence. Guo hung her head.

- INDEPENDENT