Undercover officers who set up a "decoy" trap to snare people-smugglers got more than they bargained for when they discovered a wanted criminal in the back of a lorry.

Canterbury Crown Court heard the National Crime Agency was working in tandem with law enforcement in Albania to target organised crime groups involved in human trafficking to and from the Continent.

But having made arrangements for a decoy migrant to be transported out of the UK from an industrial estate in Ashford, it was discovered "by chance" that the driver already had a foreign national stowed away in his trailer.

The man, a 22-year-old Albanian, was on the run after a warrant for his arrest had been issued at Oxford Crown Court.

The lorry driver, 28-year-old Muhamed Alievski, was arrested and later admitted assisting unlawful immigration.

The court was told he had stepped in at the "11th hour" to traffick the "non-existent, decoy" migrant, having already agreed to transport the wanted man.

Prosecutor Daniel Stevenson said arrangements had been made with an Albanian national for an NCA undercover officer to go to the Henwood Industrial Estate in Ashford on August 4 this year where the decoy migrant would be met and, for a fee of £2,500, transported out of the UK.

The original plan could not go ahead, however, and so an agreement was made for the "collection" to take place the following day.

The NCA officer was parked up in a Transit van on Saturday, August 5, when he saw Alievski, who lives in Macedonia with his parents, walk past looking at his phone and appearing to be waiting for someone, said Mr Stevenson.

The two men then discussed the "drop off" and the payment before the money was handed over and Alievski promptly arrested.

"His lorry was located around the corner. It was searched because officers heard a noise from within the lorry and they discovered a foreign national inside who initially tried to flee before being detained," the prosecutor told the court.

"He was wanted on a warrant from Oxford Crown Court for breaching an order. As it turned out, he had nothing to do with the operation being conducted (by the NCA) and therefore it was a coincidence the defendant had chosen to facilitate the illegal immigration of someone else as well as participating in what was the arrangement with the undercover officers in this case.

"But the evidence demonstrates he was willing to transport illegal migrants across borders for profit."

Mr Stevenson said Alievski, who has no previous convictions, was not however the person liaising directly with the Albanian and NCA undercover officers.

John Barker, defending, told the court Alievski was "just a driver and nothing more" and had been contacted by the main organiser "very much at the 11th hour".

"It is clear there was a prior, existing arrangement to remove from the jurisdiction the person in breach of the (court) order but then someone got in touch with him later on to say make yourself available at the industrial estate where the arrangement had been made to collect the non-existent illegal," said Mr Barker.

He added that Alievski made "a serious error of judgement" at a time when he was engaged, his wedding planned and in debt.

"This arrangement was made plainly for a fee that would have alleviated his financial difficulties. He made a bad decision," said Mr Barker.

"He made another bad decision when, while en route, it was suggested he go to the industrial estate and pick up someone else at the last moment."

Jailing Alievski for three years, Judge Mark Weekes said that although Parliament had increased the maximum punishment for human trafficking from 14 years to life imprisonment as an indication that the courts "must take a more severe line", he also had to bear in mind those "truly at the bottom end" of such offending when sentencing.

But he told Alievski: "You were willing to lend yourself to what was obviously a dangerous enterprise for those in the back of the vehicle and the journey undertaken would have been of some distance without restraints in the form of seatbelts.

"And since the journey would have been from Ashford to a port, it would have been along a fast-moving road with the potential for life-changing injuries.

"These offences create a general risk to safety and security. You, as the driver, couldn't possibly know with what intent those in the back of the vehicle held. One was indeed seeking to escape justice that awaited him at the crown court in Oxford."

Judge Weekes added however that he accepted Alievski was motivated by debt rather than "pure greed".

Speaking after the sentencing hearing, NCA senior investigating officer Andrew MacGill said: “This man was willing to smuggle a wanted criminal out of the country for money.

"Corrupt lorry drivers like him provide a crucial service for the organised criminal groups involved in people smuggling, and the NCA is determined to disrupt and dismantle these networks.”