Moroccan migrants crammed into van: driver gets four-year prison sentence

The justice system has taken a firm stance against migrant smuggling. Mohamed Sbai F., a 28-year-old Spanish national of Moroccan origin, was sentenced to four years in prison without parole, along with a €5,000 fine and a ban from French territory.

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The events date back to December 1, 2025. During a check at the La Turbie toll plaza on the A8 motorway, gendarmes intercepted a Volkswagen Caravelle. Inside the vehicle, which was designed for nine people, nineteen occupants were crammed together: the driver and 18 Moroccan migrants. For some, the journey had begun in Sicily, with Spain as the destination, and took place in conditions “incompatible with human dignity,” with blocked windows and bottles filled with urine found inside the passenger compartment.

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At the hearing, Nice public prosecutor Damien Martinelli highlighted the responsibility of a “structured organization.” Although the defense argued that there had been flaws in the investigation, particularly regarding the recording of the passengers’ identities, the court went beyond the prosecution’s requests—which sought for part of the sentence to be suspended—by issuing an immediate imprisonment order. Defense lawyers are considering an appeal.