The Irish alleged ringleader of a trafficking gang that transported a refrigerated truck in which 39 migrants died is to be extradited to Britain. A high court in Dublin on Friday ordered the extradition of Ronan Hughes, 40, to face 39 charges of manslaughter and a charge of assisting unlawful immigration. Hughes, a haulier with an address in County Monaghan near the border with Northern Ireland, allegedly masterminded the smuggling of 39 Vietnamese nationals who were found dead in a lorry container parked at an industrial estate in Grays, Essex, on 23 October last year. The eight women and 31 men and boys died from asphyxia and hyperthermia – a lack of oxygen and overheating, according to the Essex coroner. The truck, falsely declared as carrying biscuits, had travelled by ferry from Belgium. The high court rejected Hughes’s appeal against extradition and ruled that the UK had jurisdiction to prosecute the alleged offences. Hughes did not speak during the hearing. He faces a life sentence if convicted. DS James Kirwan of the Garda’s extradition section told the court that between 1 May 2018 and 24 October 2019 Hughes conspired with others to smuggle migrants illegally into the UK. The migrants were hidden in commercial trailers owned and operated by Hughes, who also organised the drivers, said Kirwan. Irish police believed Hughes had earned significant sums and had access to numerous vehicles, Kirwan added. In a separate ruling on Friday the court of appeal in Dublin rejected an appeal against extradition by Eamonn Harrison, who is wanted in Britain for his alleged role in transporting the trailer. Harrison, 23, from Mayobridge in County Down, was arrested at Dublin port last year on a European arrest warrant. Other alleged members of the smuggling network are in custody. Maurice Robinson, 25, who drove the truck in which the Vietnamese migrants were discovered, was arrested at the scene last October. Robinson, of Craigavon, Northern Ireland, pleaded guilty to 39 counts of manslaughter at the Old Bailey in London. Last month police in France arrested 13 people suspected of involvement in the operation while police in Belgium arrested another 13 people. On the same day police in Germany arrested a 29-year-old man suspected of organising the migrants’ journey from Asia. He is nicknamed “the Bald Duke”, Agence France-Presse reported.