Britain’s National Crime Agency said on Wednesday that a man suspected of running an operation to smuggle 10,000 people into Britain had been sentenced to 11 years in prison in Belgium.
Hewa Rahimpour, 30, originally from Iran, ran a pan-European network from his home in Ilford, UK. He bought small boats in Turkey, shipped them to Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, the NCA said. His network then transported them to the north coast of France to smuggle migrants across the Channel to England.
The NCA said Rahimpour’s arrest had prompted public protests and police arrests of protesters across Europe, with 60 inflatable boats and hundreds of life jackets seized in Germany.
A UK court ordered his extradition to Belgium, where prosecutors say his network charged migrants between £3,000 and £6,000 ($3,660 to $7,320) for ferrying them. Another 19 people were sentenced to terms ranging from 30 months to eight years. NCA’s Deputy Director of Investigations Craig Turner said:
“Hewa Rahimpur’s network was, at the time of his arrest, one of the most prolific criminal groups involved in small boat crossings, playing a part in transporting thousands of migrants to the UK.”
The problem of migrants arriving in the UK without authorisation is a central issue in UK politics. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has previously promised to “stop the boats” of migrants, and the government is embroiled in a legal dispute over whether it can send migrants to Rwanda. The maximum penalty for illegally entering the UK or overstaying a visa has increased from six months to four years in prison, with other measures in place over asylum applications and new powers for authorities to search vessels for migrants.
Last year, a record 45,755 people arrived across the Channel and more than 25,000 have been detected this year.
