A MAN who fled the country after being part of a fatal conspiracy to smuggle Vietnamese migrants into the UK has been jailed for a total of 12 years and seven months.

The bodies of the 39 would-be imigrants who had been trafficked across Asia and Europe before being loaded into a container where they met their deaths were discovered in West Thurrock in 2019.

Marius Mihai Draghici, 50, was arrested in Romania in August last year as a result of joint work with Essex Police with the National Crime Agency.

It brings the total number years being served in prison as part of our investigation into the tragic deaths of 39 Vietnamese people in a lorry container in Grays in 2019 to more than 110 years.

Working alongside the Crown Prosecution Service, Draghici was extradited to the UK to face charges of 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. 

Draghici admitted all charges during a hearing at the Central Criminal Court on Friday, 23 June.

Yesterday (Tuesday 11 July), he was sentenced to 12 years and seven months for the manslaughter offences and a further four years and two months for the immigration offence, which will be served concurrently.

Judge Mr Justice Garnham told Draghici that the effects of conduct on the lorry occupants was "obvious" and had "enormous consequences for their friends and family".

He also said the operation was part of an organised criminal enterprise which was run for profit and put migrants at risk of death.

Justice Garnham added Draghici played a "small but essential cog" in the conspiracy which led to the 39 victims' "agonising" death.

One final defendant is still to be tried. Caolan Gormley, 25, of Armagh, Northern Ireland, is charged with one count of conspiracy to assist illegal immigration and awaits trial for unlawful immigration offences. This male will be the eleventh and final defendant in the investigation. He has been bailed from court with conditions.  

The discovery was made in the early hours of Wednesday 23 October 2019, when the Vietnamese men, women and children were found unresponsive in the trailer of a lorry by its driver, in Eastern Avenue.

The lorry had travelled from Zeebrugge in Belgium to the Port of Purfleet, in Essex. 

Each of the victims, and their families, had paid significant sums of money to an organised criminal group whose members promised them safe passage to the UK and a life here. 

However, that promise turned to tragedy and the victims suffocated in the back of the lorry which was being driven by Northern Irishman Maurice Robinson.

Draghici's role was to be involved in the onward transportation of the migrants once they arrived in the UK.

Migrants were loaded onto the trailers in mainland Europe before travelling unaccompanied on ferries to the UK.

Once there, the trailers were collected and driven to Collingwood Farm, in Orsett, and from there, the trafficked people were driven to their destinations.

Draghici was also present at a significant meeting on 19 October, ahead of the fatal journey made by the victims, during which Gheorghe Nica made a significant payment to Ronan Hughes.

Both Nica and Hughes were subsequently jailed for 27 years.

Nica and Draghici were also involved in giving lorry driver Robinson his instructions on the night of 22-23 October 2019. Robinson was previously sentenced to 13 years and four months in prison.

Draghici is the tenth person so far been sentenced for their roles in the deaths of the 39 people.

Detective Chief Inspector Louise Metcalfe, who led the Essex Police investigation, said: "For more than three years, we have never lost sight of the far-reaching impact the events of October 2019 has had, both here in Essex and, most acutely, in Vietnam.

"Each of the people inside the lorry container were mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters. They have family who feel their loss acutely each and every day.

"Today is a significant day. Draghici knew the evidence that we were able to present was overwhelming. He had no option but to admit his involvement.

DCI Metcalfe added: "Draghici left the UK after 23 October 2019 and remained hidden in Europe until August 2022. We have always maintained that the actions we believed he was responsible for could never go unpunished. We now know they will not."

Detective Chief Superintendent Stuart Hooper, who has overseen our investigation, said: "In October 2019, we made a promise to the families of our 39 victims that we would deliver justice. We have never lost sight of that promise and the investigation team members have ensured that we have kept that promise.

"We have been committed to tracking down every person we know to have been involved. Unfortunately for Draghici, he could not stay hidden, and he is now facing the consequences of his actions."

Det Ch Supt Hooper added: "The victims and their families have been at the centre of this investigation – those families have lost mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, brothers and sisters. This has never been about being triumphant, this has always been about delivering justice for 39 families who had their worlds ripped apart in October 2019 and I'm proud of the role Essex Police has played in that."

NCA Deputy Director International Tom Dowdall said: "Marius Draghici and his criminal associates were responsible for the deaths of 39 men, women and children in horrific circumstances. It was an appalling example of just how callous people smuggling gangs are, who are prepared to risk the lives of those they transport for financial gain.

"NCA officers in the UK and overseas worked closely with Essex Police and our international partners to ensure Draghici was tracked down in Romania and brought back to the UK to face justice.

"Cases like this make us even more determined to do all we can to disrupt and dismantle the organised criminal networks involved in people smuggling. Stopping them is one of the NCA's top priorities."

Russell Tyner, Specialist Prosecutor for the CPS, said: "Marius Draghici was involved in a sophisticated organised crime group which profited from the desperation of people looking for a new life with an utter disregard for their safety.

"It is devastating that thirty-nine people who put their trust in an unscrupulous network of people smugglers have lost their lives because of the traffickers' sheer greed and recklessness.

"Draghici sought to evade the law by fleeing the country. Thanks to the continued hard work of prosecutors in our Extradition and International Units, Draghici was successfully extradited to the UK to face the charges against him and has today been brought to justice.

"The CPS is committed to working with law enforcement to identify and prosecute all those that exploit and profit from people smuggling. We will look to pursue confiscation proceedings against any ill-gotten gains the defendant accrued in this activity.

"My thoughts will always be with the families and friends of the victims."