UK sentences suspect in case of 39 Vietnamese bodies in container
A British judge sentenced Marius Draghici, the suspect in the 2019 deaths of 39 Vietnamese people in a container, to nearly 13 years in prison.
Judge Neil Garnham of the Old Bailey, London, on July 11 sentenced Marius Draghici, 50, to 12 years and seven months in prison. "Twenty-eight men, eight women and three children died in agony... because of the conspiracy in which you participated," Mr. Garnham said.
Mr Draghici was a "vital link" in a conspiracy to profit from people desperate to reach the UK, Judge Garnham said. The conditions inside the container where the victims died were "indescribable", with "no ventilation or escape route".
Draghici was also sentenced to four years and two months in prison for illegal immigration, to be served concurrently.
Suspect Marius Draghici. Photo: Essex Police
The bodies of 39 Vietnamese people were discovered in a refrigerated container at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Essex on October 23, 2019. Investigators said they boarded the vehicle in northern France and paid smugglers more than $23,000 to cross the border into the UK.
British officials said Draghici, a Romanian national, had been involved in transporting the 39 Vietnamese people in the container after they arrived in the country. He was arrested by Romanian police in August 2022 and extradited to the UK. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration at a court hearing in late June.
Draghici is the eighth suspect to be sentenced in the UK in connection with the case. The remaining seven suspects in the network were sentenced in 2021 to a total of 92 years in prison.