Romanian man jailed for smuggling 10 Vietnamese citizens

Ciprian Scorteanu, 45, was convicted of hiding eight Vietnamese children and two adults inside his truck and illegally carrying them into the U.K., British newspaper Metro reported.

Border security officers at the Port of Hull in England stopped his vehicle on October 27 last year and found the Vietnamese nationals hidden in a refrigerated container in the vehicle’s trunk.

The Romanian man was arrested the same day.

It is believed the 10 Vietnamese had been in the refrigerated container for 36 hours when they were found.

No information has been provided about how the children and adults got to Germany. The Vietnamese men found in the refrigerated truck were refused entry to the U.K. and sent to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, while the eight children were taken into the care of social services.

Last year, a court in England sentenced a Romanian man to 18 months in jail for attempting to smuggle a Vietnamese teenager into the U.K., Sky News reported.

Vietnam is consistently one of the top source countries for modern slaves in Britain - at least 3,187 suspected Vietnamese victims have been identified since 2009, according to official data.

About 362 possible child victims from Vietnam were discovered in Britain in 2017, up more than a third over 2016.

Victims trafficked from Vietnam most commonly end up being exploited, often in cannabis farms and nail bars, but many are also sexually exploited, according to a report commissioned by Britain’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner Kevin Hyland.