England: People smugglers jailed for UK to France operation

The organised crime group – consisting of Azize Benaniba, 41; Mahmoud Haidous, 53; Mohamed Bechkit, 36; Abed Karrouz, 40; Amor Ghabbari, 32; Mohamed Abdelhadi, 50; and Mohamed Bouriche, 43 – would arrange to meet migrants, normally those who had flown to the UK from North Africa on tourist visas, in north London then transport them to Kent, where they boarded lorries travelling from Dover to Calais. They received jail terms ranging from seven years and three months to 13 years and six months.

The prosecution’s case demonstrated the orchestrated efforts of the group between 20 February, 2023, and 31 October, 2023. Prosecutors pieced the case together following an investigation by the National Crime Agency, from officers’ surveillance, CCTV footage, phone records and automatic number plate recognition.

On one occasion – on 6 September, 2023 – the migrants were put into a refrigerated lorry putting their lives at severe risk due to being put in an airtight trailer. As the lorry was under NCA surveillance it was intercepted, but long delays at Dover in the hot weather heightened the risk. One of the migrants was taken to hospital, and others were treated at the scene.

The investigation identified 157 migrants who were intercepted. They were paying around £1,200 per journey and it is estimated the group would have raised more than £500,000.

Janine Baugh, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This was a highly organised group which tried to smuggle migrants to France more than 20 times.

“They put the lives of people at risk – often in inhumane conditions – just to profit off others. We presented the court with a video of people screaming to be let out of a trailer, which demonstrates these poor conditions.

“The Crown Prosecution Service will continue to work with our partners at home and overseas and play a vital role in the Border Security Command in order to bring those involved in organised immigration crime to justice.”

John Turner, NCA senior investigating officer, said: “These smugglers had no care for the safety or wellbeing of the people they crammed into lorry trailers – their only concern was making money.

“We’ve seen the fatal consequences of this crime type, as migrants have sadly lost their lives being smuggled across borders on land and at sea. Our thorough investigation has safeguarded hundreds of migrants who were put in serious danger, and has now led to jail terms for 12 members of a prolific people smuggling network.”