Man jailed for smuggling woman into the UK behind his glove box

A people smuggler has been jailed for trying to sneak a Vietnamese woman into the UK by cramming her into the dashboard of his car.

Photos captured by Border Force officers show the woman wedged inside a tiny, custom-built 4ft by 2ft hideaway behind the Vauxhall Vectra’s glove box.

Jozef Balog, a Slovakian, was jailed for two and a half years at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday for assisting unlawful immigration.

Steve Blackwell, deputy director of criminal and financial investigations at the Home Office, said: “This is a truly shocking case that shows the callous disregard these criminals have for the lives and safety of the vulnerable people they exploit.

“We have once again shown that those who seek to exploit our border will be caught and brought to justice. I am grateful to the officers who identified this horrific incident and brought the case to a positive conclusion.”

Balog, 33, was intercepted by Border Force officers in June 2022 as he drove his British-registered car through the UK control zone in Coquelles, northern France. He claimed to be returning to his home in Manchester after visiting relatives in his home country.

Border Force officers decided to check the vehicle and, while searching the front passenger side, they spotted the carpet was further forward into the footwell than expected.

They removed the glove box to reveal a Vietnamese woman squashed into the tiny hideaway behind the dashboard. Further investigation showed the vehicle had been modified and parts removed to create the concealed area.

The Vietnamese woman was identified, deemed to be an illegal entrant, and served with the requisite paperwork to face deportation.

Balog pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration in June 2022. Because he has already served 19 months in custody, he can be released on licence having already spent the equivalent of half his sentence in jail. He is now expected to face deportation.

Vietnamese migrants have been at the centre of some of the most horrific cases of people smuggling, including the Essex lorry deaths scandal when 31 men and eight women were found dead in the trailer of an articulated refrigerator lorry in Grays, Essex. Four men were jailed for their manslaughter.

In September last year, a French couple were jailed for almost 10 years for assisting unlawful migration after they wedged a Vietnamese woman and three children inside adapted sofas in the back of a van in an attempt to smuggle them into the UK.

Vietnamese migrants tend to be trafficked by gangs into nail bars, cannabis farms and the sex trade in the UK, which is why the crime bosses prefer lorries rather than small boats, where migrants are likely to be detained by Border Force.

The imperative for the Vietnamese migrants is to work off the loans taken out by their families and paid to the trafficking gangs, which is why they abscond or disappear into the black market after being detained.

In the wake of the Essex deaths, Vietnamese gangs whose trafficking networks extend across Europe are said to have switched from lorries to multiple cross-channel car journeys in a bid to avoid detection and reach the UK.