A Vietnamese national has been sentenced to 12 years in prison by a Bruges criminal court for his involvement in a tragic human trafficking case which led to the deaths of 39 migrants in Essex, UK, found in a refrigerated lorry. He must also pay a fine of €616,000.
N. Van Kim, aged 34, is believed to be the right-hand man of the trafficking ring leader. He remains at large, and an immediate arrest has been ordered.
The lifeless bodies of 39 individuals, including three minors, were discovered on 23 October 2019 in a refrigerated lorry in Grays, a town in Essex, southern England. The victims died due to a lack of oxygen. It was soon uncovered that the container had arrived in Purfleet, England, from Zeebrugge.
Authorities from the countries involved collaborated on the case. In the UK’s investigation, two main suspects were sentenced in January 2021 to 20 and 27 years for manslaughter. The Belgian investigation led police to focus on two locations in Anderlecht, where multiple illegal transports were organised. The criminal organisation, allegedly led by Vo Van Hong, is connected to 130 transports.
The Ghent Court of Appeal sentenced the leader, Vo Van Hong, in February 2023 to 10 years of imprisonment. However, N. Van Kim has evaded capture, leading to his trial in absentia on 5 March, with the verdict announced this Wednesday.
According to the federal prosecutor, N. Van Kim managed a hideout on rue de l’Agrafe in Anderlecht. Numerous taxi drivers and victims identified him as a human trafficker. He faced charges related to the trafficking of at least 77 migrants, transported in 56 convoys.
In addition to the prison sentence and fine, N. Van Kim has been stripped of his civil rights for 10 years. However, the court did not grant the public prosecutor’s request to confiscate over one and a half million euros, citing insufficient evidence of the trafficker’s earnings from his victims. Nonetheless, he must compensate the civil party with €5,000, ruled the court.
The trial also sought to clarify the involvement of another defendant, N. Van Thanh, aged 39, who has also evaded arrest. The civil party claimed he aided in obtaining fake identity documents. However, the prosecution found insufficient evidence to link him definitively and sought an acquittal. Although three months’ imprisonment was requested for illegal residence in Belgium, the court noted he was not charged with this and acquitted him of all allegations.
