A Kent man is among a smuggling gang facing jail after Border Force officers discovered a woman crammed inside a car glove box.

Redar Curtis, from Kennington, Ashford, was found guilty of assisting unlawful immigration after the Vietnamese national was found hidden in a compartment concealed behind the dashboard of the vehicle, which had crossed the Channel from France.

The discovery sparked an investigation which uncovered a people smuggling network and resulted in the seizure of counterfeit documents, more than 20,000 illicit cigarettes and £6,000 in cash.

He was one of three members of the gang who faced a 10-week trial after denying assisting unlawful immigration to the UK.

Curtis, 30, of Guernsey Way, Jozef Kadet, 25, of Constable Street, Manchester, and Khales Akram Jabar, 44, of Barnaby Avenue, Middlesbrough, were each found guilty at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Wednesday.

The court heard how the gang worked together between 2022 and last year to facilitate immigration to the UK via land and air unlawfully.

They also created and possessed counterfeit identity documents believed to have been made using a Greek forgery factory, according to the Home Office.

Five members of the gang – brothers Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin, 43, and Muhamad Jamal Hamadamin, 27, Yassen Jalal Mohammed, 43, Dlawar Omar, 40, and Curtis’ wife Emily Etherington, 37 – pleaded guilty to charges put against them.

Mukhlis Hamadamin, of Brook Road, Stockport, admitted four counts of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration to the UK, one count of conspiracy to make an article for use in a fraud and one count of possession of an identity document with improper intention.

His brother, also of Brook Road, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and one count of possessing an identity document with improper intention.

Mohammed, of Woodhouse Grove, Huddersfield, admitted three counts of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration to the UK, while Omar, of Pendrill Street, Hull, and Etherington, also of Guernsey Way, each pleaded guilty to one count of the same charge.

The investigation was prompted by the discovery at the UK border of a Vietnamese woman hiding in a cramped compartment concealed behind the dashboard of a vehicle being driven by Jozef Balog in June 2022 upon his return from France.

Balog pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in January last year.

In July 2022, Etherington was stopped by Border Force officers after they found she was hiding another woman in the dashboard of her vehicle.

Her husband, Curtis, was then linked to the operation prompting the Home Office to launch a wider investigation.

Border security and asylum minister Dame Angela Eagle said: “This case shows the ruthless tactics of criminal gangs who smuggle people through Europe and into the UK.

“They have no regard for human life and exploit vulnerable individuals solely for profit, putting them in incredibly dangerous situations.”

The group of eight will appear at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on January 29 for a hearing where a sentencing date is expected to be set.