The Belgian federal prosecutor has requested a 12-year prison sentence for a Vietnamese national tried in absentia for his involvement in a human trafficking operation that resulted in the deaths of 39 migrants found in a refrigerated truck in Essex, England.
N. Van Kim, 35, is allegedly the right-hand man of the trafficking ring leader. He also faces a €616,000 fine and confiscation of over €1.5 million.
On 23 October 2019, 39 lifeless bodies, including three minors, were discovered in a refrigerated truck in Grays, Essex, southern England. The victims died from a lack of oxygen.
The container had arrived in Purfleet from Zeebrugge. The Belgian investigation led police to two safe houses in Anderlecht, from where several clandestine transports had been organised.
The criminal organisation, led by Vo Van Hong, is believed to have coordinated a total of 130 convoys.
In February 2023, the Ghent Court of Appeal sentenced Vo Van Hong to 10 years in prison.
His accomplice, N. Van Kim, has never been apprehended, and is being tried in absentia on Wednesday morning at the Bruges Correctional Court.
The federal prosecutor explained that Kim was responsible for the safe house on Rue de l’Agrafe in Anderlecht.
Several taxi drivers and victims identified him as a human trafficker. A video of the fatal transport was also discovered. N. Van Kim is charged with trafficking at least 77 migrants in 56 convoys.
The Bruges Correctional Court will deliver its judgment on 7 May.
