TWO lorry drivers from the north were a "necessary cog" in an international people-smuggling syndicate, a court has heard.
Afghan asylum seekers, including one who had died, were found in a shipping container at an Essex port two years ago.
Meet Singh Kapoor was one of 35 Afghan Sikhs, including 15 children, found inside the container at Tilbury Docks on August 16 2014.
The 40-year-old died during an overnight crossing from Zeebrugge in Belgium, but the rest survived the cramped journey.
The refugees are believed to have fled Kabul in Afghanistan after suffering alleged persecution and were living illegally in Belgium and France.
Stephen McLaughlin (36) and Martin McGlinchey (49) are accused of helping to smuggle illegal immigrants into the UK.
Jurors were told that another smuggling attempt was thwarted less than two weeks earlier when an Irish driver, Timothy Murphy, employed by McLaughlin and McGlinchey, was stopped in France while carrying a load of frozen chips, and was found with 12 Afghans hidden aboard his lorry.
Basildon Crown Court heard that McLaughlin, from Limavady, Co Derry, and McGlinchey, of Coalisland, Co Tyrone, were part of a "large and organised" operation smuggling immigrants from Europe to the UK on legitimate crossings.
Prosecuting, Michael Goodwin told the jury: "We are going to invite you to conclude that both defendants were a necessary cog in the wheel that made this smuggling operation work and that each knew what was going on and that there is no innocent explanation for their movements, actions, telephone calls and meetings."
Jurors were told the two men are facing a retrial, and the pair deny conspiring to facilitate illegal entry into the UK between June 1 and September 5 2014.
Mr Murphy was cleared of the same charge during a trial last year, while a Kurdish man, Taha Sharif, was found guilty. A fifth man, known only as "Kurd Eng", remains at large.
