A man has been jailed after admitting he tried to smuggle five men to the UK by lorry and intent to supply cocaine
A man has been jailed after trying to smuggle five men into the UK in a lorry and possessing cocaine with intent to supply.
Ibrahim Sollaku, 33, of Priory Road, Southampton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration into the UK and possession with intent to supply class A drugs in December 2025. The 33-year-old was sentenced to 10 years in jail. Sollaku was arrested in Bournemouth on November 5 last year by officers from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU).
On the same day, a Belgian law enforcement operation arrested a taxi driver and stopped five Albanian men in Bruges from boarding a lorry bound for the UK. Sollaku had arranged for the taxi to take the group to a Belgian port, where they could be loaded onto a lorry crossing the Channel, before being picked up by another taxi in the UK, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
A search of Sollaku’s address uncovered more than 90 street deals of cocaine, along with handwritten notes linked to drug supply.
At Winchester Crown Court on Friday, Sollaku was sentenced to seven years and six months for the smuggling offence and a further two years and six months for the drugs offence, to be served consecutively.
Detective Chief Inspector Adam Smith, from SWROCU, said: “Sollaku is clearly a well-connected criminal, shown by his involvement in both organised immigration crime and class A drug dealing.
“He wasn’t concerned with the risk or harm both of those offences cause – just in making money. Criminals like Sollaku look to make huge profits by facilitating illegal journeys.
“The high price tags they charge often help to strengthen their criminal networks, causing yet more harm to our communities. The more information we have to help identify suspects and potential victims, the more we can target the networks behind it.”
Anja Hohmeyer, from the CPS, said: “Ibrahim Sollaku played a leading role in this criminal conspiracy to bring people from Albania illegally to the UK.
“This has been a successful joint operation between the UK and Belgium to capture and disrupt international people-smuggling gangs. Sollaku could have chosen to get a job and make a life for himself and his young family, but he’s thrown that all away. Those who get involved in immigration crime not only risk destroying their lives but also those of their family members.”
