The routine traffic stop that helped expose major people smuggler ring: Moment police pull over driver without insurance - and discover phone messages about migrants in lorries

This is the moment a routine police stop helped expose a major migrant trafficking ring that landed three smugglers with more than 18 years in prison. Footage obtained by the Mail shows George Peposhi, a 52-year-old British-Albanian, being stopped by City of London Police for driving without insurance in September 2023.Peposhi is seen claiming that his insurance had been organised by the 'company' he worked for but refusing to disclose the name or date of birth of the policy holder, telling an officer it was 'rude' of him to ask. Eventually, Peposhi named him as Irishman Philip Gaughan – prompting the officer to seize his phone and call the 55-year-old himself. As he was doing so, he noticed messages between Gaughan and Peposhi on a WhatsApp chat that described moving migrants in lorries – leading the police officer to arrest him for people smuggling offences. City of London Police then passed the messages to Home Office criminal and investigation officers, who were already probing a smuggling racket involving Peposhi, Gaughan and a third man – 35-year-old Romanian Nicolae Mares. Footage obtained by the Mail shows George Peposhi, a 52-year-old British-Albanian, being stopped by City of London Police for driving without insurance in September 2023 A lorry that was used to smuggle illegal migrants by Peposhi's criminal network Further investigation revealed Peposhi, Gaughan and Mares had smuggled eight Vietnamese migrants in the back of an HGV that arrived at the Port of Dover on July 26, 2023. Immigration officers were able to connect the men to the lorry by analysing their WhatsApp messages and matching them up with details obtained through Automatic Number Plate Recognition. Fake number plates were found in the side door of the HGV cabin, which were swapped over at Dover and Calais to further mask the group's comings-and-goings through the border.WhatsApp messages shared between the three men covertly referred to migrants as 'chickens' and discussed points of contact, timings, updates, service station locations for handovers and defined roles in the operation.At points, the men threatened to report each other to the police when the operation was running behind schedule.In another exchange, Peposhi described how a 'customer' – referring to a migrant – was going 'f*****g crazy' in the back of a lorry and demanded they be immediately let out of the vehicle. Peposhi was jailed for seven years and six months at Canterbury Crown Court on August 28 Gaughan also referred to an accomplice the trio were working with as an 'idiot', prompting Mares to remark, 'I don't wanna go in [sic] prison cause [sic] he is an idiot.' The messages came to light following Peposhi's road stop for driving without insurance. Officers ensured the crook's mobile phone stayed on during his arrest so they could read the rest of his messages. It comes as new statistics showed law enforcement officers delivered 3,896 disruptions to criminal smuggling activity in the year ending June 2026, including arrests, convictions and seizures of criminal assets. This represents a 48 per cent increase in disruptions compared to the previous year.Peposhi was jailed for seven years and six months at Canterbury Crown Court on August 28. Gaughan was sentenced to six years and six months, and Mares five years. Philip Gaughan was sentenced to six years and six months, and Nicolae Mares five years Immigration Minister Anna Turley said: 'The people-smuggling gangs who drive this trade in human misery are feeling the pressure like never before. We've increased work to disrupt their disgusting business model by almost half in the last year - hitting their operations and profits hard, and putting more smugglers behind bars.'Through closer international working, better intelligence-sharing and more targeted operations, we are going after these criminal networks right from their source countries to when they try to facilitate illegal entry into the UK.'Our enforcement agencies are seizing more assets, arresting ringleaders, dismantling networks and preventing dangerous crossing attempts before they ever reach our shores. Every disruption weakens their wicked model.'Make no mistake, if you attempt to exploit our borders or profit from human suffering, you will be caught, prosecuted and face the full force of the law.'