Car wash in Wales used as front for people smuggling operation, court told

Video footage showed migrants hidden in lorries and boats as Dilshad Shamo and Ali Khdir ran a people trafficking operation from a car wash in Caerphilly

Looking at the car wash on the side of a busy Caerphilly road it is difficult to comprehend that it was at the centre of an international people trafficking operation. We now know that from this base Dilshad Shamo, 41, and Ali Khdir, 40, earned thousands of pounds by facilitating the illegal entry of migrants from outside the EU – up to 400 in just six months.

Shamo and Khdir, as part of a larger organised crime group, were facilitating the movement of migrants from Iraq, Iran and Syria through Belarus, Moldova and Bosnia and ending in Italy, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Germany and France.

Migrants were offered three tiers of service – the simplest being on foot or via HGV or smaller vehicle, the next by cargo ships or yachts, and the top tier by providing plane travel. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here

Money was lodged with Hawala bankers based in Iraq and Istanbul who would arrange and obtain funds from migrants travelling on particular routes. And the pair ran that operation from the Fast Track Hand Car Wash on Pontygwindy Road, Caerphilly.

Evidence was gathered by the UK’s leading law enforcers the National Crime Agency, which carried out a lengthy investigation into the activities of Shamo and Khdir. Opening the trial before a jury last year, prosecutor Sarah Gaunt said: “It is the prosecution’s case the defendants were conducting a people smuggling operation from Caerphilly – primarily the Fast Track Hand Car Wash situated in Pontygwindy Road.”

A number of mobile phones and SIM cards were seized from the defendants. The devices were examined and significant volumes of evidence, including messages and other online communications, were scrutinised.

Video footage emerged showing migrants being smuggled into Europe by lorry and boat. One migrant could be seen lying in the back of a lorry while others are visible on the side of a speedboat travelling at pace.

Shamo and Khdir used Whatsapp to communicate with people smugglers across Europe. Once a deposit was obtained, they would receive an ‘OK’ for migrants to be moved by a specified route or timeframe.

Other messaging and social media apps were used to advertise their routes and services with videos of families who were travelling via plane, on boats or in the back of HGVs.

Contact had been made with individuals from Iraq, Turkey, and from across Europe. Among the material seized during the investigation were self-recorded videos captured by migrants while being smuggled across borders. One such clip shows a man filming his feet as he travels concealed in the back of a lorry.

He could be heard saying: “Today is December 17, 2022. With the help of Good and Kak Choman we made a deal by lorry route. I’m inside the lorry – that is his job. We made a deal and we are on the move.” The man then turns the camera to reveal several blankets draped over pallets.

Additional footage captures migrants aboard vessels travelling at speed across open water. In one clip a man can be heard saying: “Ships! Boss! We only travel by ships to Italy.”

Both Shamo and Khdir were placed under police surveillance, with listening devices installed in the defendants’ vehicles and at the car wash.

Numerous conversations between the pair were recorded, originally in Kurdish, before being translated into English for the purposes of the trial.

Photographs were also taken of the defendants, with Khdir pictured at the car wash and Shamo captured on camera at Heathrow Airport.

Ms Gaunt continued: “The prosecution’s case is the evidence from multiple sources shows the defendants trafficked or attempted to traffic individuals from non-European countries across and into the EU for monetary gain. This was in breach of immigration laws that existed in those countries. Money was deposited by migrants in order to fund the journey and the facilitators included these defendants.”

The court was told that funds were transferred via Hawala and Western Union through money transfer agencies operating in Iraq. In exchange, Shamo and Khdir arranged entry into EU nations for various individuals who lacked legal documentation, by organising passage through or access into those countries.

Both defendants hold British citizenship, however Shamo, of Castell Morgraig, Caerphilly, was born in Iraq, while Khdir, of Pontygwindy Road, Caerphilly, was born in Iran and is of Kurdish Iranian heritage.

The pair owned and ran Fast Track Hand Car Wash Ltd between 2015 and 2021. It was alleged that while the company did function as a legitimate car wash, it may also have served as a front for the defendants’ other activities.

Shamo was also known as Mr Kochar or Kuchar, while Khdir was also known by the names Bakhtiyar, Baka, and Bakha. Shamo was arrested at the car wash on November 18, 2022, in connection with an unrelated matter, during which his mobile phone was confiscated.

He and Khdir were subsequently arrested on April 18, 2023, for unlawfully employing individuals who were barred from working in the UK owing to their immigration status, at which point Khdir’s phone was also seized. The confiscation of the defendants’ devices led to the uncovering of the various messages.

Both defendants, who had initially denied five counts of conspiracy to facilitate the commission of a breach or attempted breach of immigration laws, changed their plea to guilty during proceedings at Cardiff Crown Court. They were formally convicted of the charges by the jury.

Now they have been sentenced to 19 years’ imprisonment each today following a Newton hearing.

Speaking after the sentencing NCA branch commander Derek Evans said: “Our long-running investigation showed Khdir and Shamo were working around the clock to orchestrate the movement of migrants across Europe. We believe they smuggled more than 400 people in a period of just six months.

“While on the surface they portrayed themselves as successful businessmen running a car wash from Caerphilly, they were actually leading an entirely separate life as part of a criminal network.

“The NCA will continue in our work to tackle organised immigration crime and bring criminals involved at every step of the route to justice.”

Kate Hurst from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “We didn’t accept the basis on which Ali Khdir and Dilshad Shamo admitted their guilt because they tried to minimise their leading role in seeking to bring hundreds of migrants illegally into Europe.

“The court accepted our evidence and has handed down sentences that they both deserve.

“This prosecution couldn’t have been possible without the hard work of officers from the National Crime Agency and international cooperation from our overseas partners.

“Only by working together and sharing information in this way can we disrupt and defeat organised immigration gangs.”

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