Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Stoten, of Essex Police, said the gang were greedy but complacent .
He said: You would not transport animals in that way but they were quite happy to do that and put them at significant risk.
Since the tragedy, Essex Police had been at the forefront of cracking down on organised immigration crime, Mr Stoten said.
Kelly Matthews, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: Thirty-nine vulnerable people desperate for a new life put their trust in an unscrupulous network of people smugglers. Nothing can bring back the lives lost on that day or the loss caused by the horrible, unlawful and dangerous actions of these defendants.
By Press Association 2021
Victims found in the back of a trailer
An “unscrupulous” gang of people-smugglers are facing years behind bars for their part in the deaths of 39 migrants.
The Vietnamese victims, aged between 15 and 44, suffocated in the back of a trailer as they were shipped to Purfleet in Essex from Belgium on October 23 last year.
With false promises of a better life in Britain, they were betrayed by greedy criminals who pursued profits of more than £1 million that month alone.
On Monday, Romanian ringleader Gheorghe Nica, 43, from Basildon, and lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 24, from County Down, were found guilty of 39 counts of manslaughter.
People smugglers face jail for killing 39 Vietnamese migrants who suffocated in the back of a lorry
Romanian ringleader Gheorghe Nica and lorry driver Eamonn Harrison have been found guilty of 39 counts of manslaughter
A court sketch of Gheorghe Nica (left) and Eamonn Harrison (right) (Image: PA)
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MEMBERS of a million-pound people-smuggling ring could be facing life behind bars for the manslaughter of 39 migrants. The Vietnamese migrants, aged between 15 and 44, were found dead in the back of a trailer in Essex on October 23 last year. They had suffocated in sweltering temperatures as the airtight container was shipped from Zeebrugge to Purfleet. The “unscrupulous” gang behind the illegal shipment were motivated by greed as they pursued profits of more than £1 million that month alone.
Gheorghe Nica (left) and Eamonn Harrison (right) in the dock of the Old Bailey (Elizabeth Cook/PA) Following a 10-week trial, Romanian ringleader Gheorghe Nica, 43, from Basildon, and lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 24, from County Down, were found guilty on Monday of 39 counts of manslaughter.
By Press Association 2021
Victims found in the back of a trailer
An “unscrupulous” gang of people-smugglers are facing years behind bars for their part in the deaths of 39 migrants.
The Vietnamese victims, aged between 15 and 44, suffocated in the back of a trailer as they were shipped to Purfleet in Essex from Belgium on October 23 last year.
With false promises of a better life in Britain, they were betrayed by greedy criminals who pursued profits of more than £1 million that month alone.
On Monday, Romanian ringleader Gheorghe Nica, 43, from Basildon, and lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 24, from County Down, were found guilty of 39 counts of manslaughter.