Four taxi drivers who were part of a conspiracy to smuggle illegal migrants to France in the back of lorries have been sentenced following a National Crime Agency investigation. The gang’s Algerian-born kingpin, Madjid Belabes, 54, was estimated to have made nearly £290,000 by orchestrating the plot. Belabes, of Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, London, charged migrants £1,200 a time and arranged the movement of migrants to mainland Europe 26 times between December 2022 and September 2023. He was also seen transporting migrants along with those he recruited to help. In one attempt, 58 migrants who were Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan were discovered by officials in France. All the people transported by Belabes and his gang had been in the UK on tourist visas before the migrants tried to enter France illegally. The migrants entered the UK specifically to reach mainland Europe. Belabes was jailed for 10 years and nine months in November for people smuggling and possessing criminal property (£11,000 in cash). Four taxi drivers who are also Algerian nationals were on Friday sentenced for their …