Two men ran people-smuggling ring from Caerphilly car wash, court hears

A people-smuggling ring bringing people through Europe was operated by two men from a car wash in south Wales, a court has heard.

Dilshad Shamo, 41, and Ali Khdir, 40, are accused of unlawfully moving hundreds of people through Europe, by arranging the movement of migrants in boats, HGVs and cars from Iraq, Iran and Syria.

The pair, whose addresses were previously given as Pontygwindy Road, Caerphilly, stood in the dock as 14 jurors – seven women and seven men – were sworn in on Monday.

The jury will be reduced to 12 when the trial gets under way.

Hand car wash

Khdir, who was born in Iran, and Shamo, originally from Iraq, owned and operated the Fast Track Hand Car Wash in Caerphilly, where people trafficking is alleged to have been organised.

Both deny five counts of conspiring to breach migration laws in Italy, Romania, Croatia and Germany to bring people into EU countries.

All the offences are alleged to have taken place between September 2022 and April 2023.

Khdir appeared before the court wearing a black Under Armour coat, with a black beard. Shamo wore a dark suit and also had a black beard.

WhatsApp

Speaking on behalf of the prosecution, Sarah Gaunt said the jury would be shown evidence from WhatsApp, including voice messages between the defendants and people based in Iraq, Turkey and Europe attempting to smuggle people across the EU.

Most of the immigrants trafficked came from Iraq, Iran and Syria, and were charged money “equating to several thousands of pounds”, she said.

Much of the money was transferred using the ancient Hawala system of credit notes, with smaller amounts sent through Western Union.

The prosecutor said: “It’s the prosecution’s case that these two defendants were conducting a people-smuggling operation from Caerphilly, and primarily from the Fast Track Car Wash.

“The countries focused upon in this case are Italy, Romania, Germany and Croatia.

“These four countries were among the European countries that migrants were trafficked to, or through, by these defendants.”

Surveillance

She added: “The police carried out surveillance on these defendants and on certain dates recorded their movements.

“The police in their investigation placed listening devices in their cars and the car wash in Caerphilly.

“You will hear various conversations recorded of these defendants talking whilst they were in their motor vehicles and seem to be the only occupants.”

Ms Gaunt said many of the conversations were in Kurdish, which has been translated for the jury.

She described four routes the defendants allegedly used to traffic people through Europe:

– Migrants use legitimate documents to enter Turkey before being moved across the border, sometimes onboard a boat or ship.

– Migrants get Belarusian or Moldovan tourist visas, and are then transported by car or lorry to Germany or Romania.

– Migrants are taken by lorry, by sea or road from Turkey to Italy or Germany.

– Iraqi, Iranian and Syrian migrants travel via Bosnia, using cars or taxis across into Croatia and Slovenia, and often on to Italy.

The prosecutor argued the defendants can be seen organising and liaising with a large number of individuals to facilitate or attempt to facilitate illegal immigration, including people taking deposits, taking and storing passports before travel, taxi drivers and ship operators.

The defendants deny sending any messages linking them to the alleged people smuggling.

The trial continues on Tuesday.