A Romanian man pleaded guilty Friday in a UK court to the manslaughter of 39 illegal Vietnamese migrants, the BBC reported.
Marius Mihai Draghici, 50, also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration at a hearing at the Old Bailey courthouse in London, the report said. He will be sentenced at a later date.
Draghici was detained in Romania and extradited to the UK following a European arrest warrant, according to the report. He was allegedly the ringleader of the smuggling gang that squirreled the 39 Vietnamese migrants into the UK, per the Bangkok Post. (RELATED: Biden To Ease Restrictions On Migrant Worker Visas In Handout For Indian PM Modi)
We are offering a #reward of up to £10,000 for information on the whereabouts of 48-year-old Marius Mihai Draghici, suspected of being involved in the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese nationals, found in the back of a lorry at Tilbury in 2019.
Find out more: https://t.co/wVs5lsv68H pic.twitter.com/9o2ibchXCh
— Crimestoppers (@CrimestoppersUK) July 29, 2022
The migrants were reportedly smuggled in a truck from Zeebrugge, Belgium, to Purfleet on the Thames, according to the BBC. Paramedics and police arrived following a morning call on October 23, 2019, from a different truck driver, Maurice Robinson. Upon arrival, they discovered all 39 migrants dead, with the temperature within the truck’s interior at 101 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a separate BBC report.
The investigation that followed was “the most complex investigation ever undertaken by Essex Police,” Detective Chief Inspector Louise Metcalfe said, according to the BBC.
Each of the migrants had paid up to $16,500, per the Bangkok Post.
Upon his sentencing, Draghici will become the fifth person jailed in connection with the incident, the BBC said.