London: A British pilot was sentenced to prison for his participation in a scheme to smuggle four Albanians into Britain from Belgium.

Silvano Turchet, Vijayakumar Sivakumar, and Richard Styles were all detained after the National Crime Agency thwarted their scheme in March of last year. After flying a twin-engine plane from Belgium to Deenethorpe Airfield near Corby in Northamptonshire with three men and a woman on board who were attempting to evade immigration checks, Styles, a Hertfordshire resident, was detained there.

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He remarked ironically as he was taken into custody by police: "I normally get arrested for drugs, so it is a bit strange." He had rented the six-seater Piper Seneca for £1,500, the NCA discovered after speaking with the former pilot Turchet.  Prior to the flight on March 23, Turchet had paid to have the jet stored in a hangar. Investigators think the men had contact with Tim K, an Albanian who set up the passengers' meeting with him in Belgium.

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The following day, when the plane arrived back in the country, the surveillance team was ready.Sivakumar, who had previously been found guilty of attempting to smuggle a person into the UK in the boot of his car, was also detained in the meantime.Phone records revealed that Tim K and Sivakumar had spoken prior to takeoff.

Sarah Jennings, a specialist prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, claimed that all three defendants were involved in a deliberate and organised attempt to get around immigration controls.The CPS collaborated closely with the National Crime Agency and Belgian international law enforcement as well as other investigators to build this case.

The three men were cooperating, she continued, "even on the day they were caught, unaware that the NCA were waiting as the plane landed, according to the evidence we presented."

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Styles received a sentence of seven years in prison, Turchet received a sentence of seven and a half years, and Sivakumar received a sentence of four and a half years. All three men were accused of aiding in a violation of immigration law.