Romanian pleads guilty over deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants in botched trafficking plot

The victims had paid up to £13,000 each in hopes of reaching Britain

The victims' bodies were discovered in the back of the lorry trailer in Purfleet, England, on October 23, 2019. PA

A 50-year-old Romanian man accused of being a key figure in a people-smuggling syndicate, pleaded guilty on Friday to the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants, including two 15-year-old boys.

Marius Mihai Draghici was detained by Romanian police in August last year and later charged by British prosecutors with 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

The victims were found suffocated inside a lorry's sealed container at a port near London, in October 2019.

They had paid up to £13,000 ($16,500) each in hopes of being transported to a better life in the UK via what was described as a “VIP” smuggling service.

The incident brought renewed focus on the desperate lengths migrants will go to reach Britain, and the illicit gangs profiting from their vulnerability.

The charges were pleaded to at London's Old Bailey court, and sentencing is set to be determined at a later date.

While in the stifling, pitch-black container, the migrants tried to raise the alarm as the air supply ran out before reaching the UK.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC noted Draghici's guilty pleas, stating that he was “disinclined to accept there was no financial reward” for Draghici's involvement, although he could not pinpoint any specific money transfer.

Several others were convicted and sentenced in 2021, in connection with the disaster.

Two smugglers and two lorry drivers received sentences ranging from 13 to 27 years.

Four other men in the UK were jailed for conspiring to enable unlawful immigration, and another received a 10-month term for his limited involvement.

Belgium also convicted 19 individuals tied to the smuggling ring, including ringleader Vo Van Hong, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The smuggling operations, described by Justice Sweeney as a “sophisticated, long-running, and profitable” conspiracy, were found to span from May 2018 to October 2019, with seven identified trips and possibly more.

Families of the victims in Vietnam and Britain expressed their profound loss, at the sentencing hearing.

The heartbreaking stories included Phan Thi Thanh, 41, who had sold her family home and left her son with a godmother before embarking on the fatal journey.

Her son, hearing of the incident via media, contacted his father in the UK to confirm his mother's death.

He described himself as “very shocked, very sad and … crying a lot.”

The fatal smuggling operation was only halted after the tragic journey that claimed 39 lives.