Ringleader of gang responsible for smuggling 10,000 migrants in small boat crossings to the UK is jailed for 11 years

A RINGLEADER of a gang responsible for smuggling 10,000 migrants in small boat crossings to the UK has been jailed for 11 years.

Hewa Rahimpur, 30, was put behind bars by a Belgian court today for being involved in "systematic human smuggling" by supplying boats to a crime group.

He sourced the crafts in Turkey and had them delivered to Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

He would then direct other members of his criminal organisation to move them on to the north French coast for crossings to the UK.

The UK National Crime Agency, which led the investigation into the smuggling ring, said the gang would make between £175,000 and £260,000 in profit from each dangerous crossing.

People were being charged between £3,000 and £6,000 per trip, which saw about 40 people crammed on to a small boat.

It is believed the gang were responsible for almost 10 per cent of crossings to Britain in a period of 12 to 18 months.

They openly advertised their services on social media.

Officials have described the battle to get the online entries removed as like playing "whack a mole".

Rahimpur was arrested in Ilford in east London in May last year, triggering a Europe-wide investigation into the smuggling ring.

Some 60 boats and hundreds of life jackets were seized by investigators from a store in the north-western German city of Osnabruck.

The investigation had begun when a number of boats and outboard motors were found by Belgian police in the back of two cars near the Belgian-French border in October 2021.
 
Phone analysis showed the drivers had been in contact with a UK-based phone number, which was traced to Rahimpur.

More than 40 people were ultimately arrested across four countries in one of the largest law enforcement operations of its kind.

In July last year a UK court ordered Rahimpur should be extradited to Belgium to face criminal charges there, despite his false claims to have a partner and child in Britain.

He has now been jailed by a judge in Bruges alongside 19 other members of the gang, who received prison sentences ranging between 30 months and eight years.

After today's sentencing, National Crime Agency deputy director 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.

"Bringing him to justice required the co-operation of law enforcement across Europe.

"We're going to do all we can do to disrupt and dismantle these dangerous people from smuggling individuals into the UK."

Rahimpur, who is Kurdish and originally from Iran, came to the UK to claim asylum in 2016.

The NCA believe Rahimpur decided to get involved in trafficking to take some profits for himself after he himself paid to get to Britain, probably being smuggled in a lorry,

Mr Turner said the gang treated smuggled migrants' lives as a commodity.

He told journalists: "These criminal networks do not care about the safety of those that they transport.

"They are happy to put them in extremely dangerous and life-threatening situations, and this is why disrupting and dismantling them remains a key priority for us."