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Amanj Hasan Zada, an Iranian national from Preston, Lancashire, has been sentenced to 17 years in prison after being convicted of three counts of facilitating illegal immigration. Zada was linked to three Channel crossings in 2023, involving Kurdish migrants who had travelled through eastern Europe. Zada advertised the small boat crossings on Facebook and was known by migrants he transported as Amanj Zaman.
The National Crime Agency’s (NCA) Martin Clarke stated that Zada was “the best smuggler” and had run “a sophisticated enterprise” focused on profit. Clarke also noted that Zada had no issues putting individuals in life-threatening situations as long as he was paid. It is believed that Zada may have been involved in many more illegal crossings, and the NCA has approximately 70 ongoing investigations into networks or individuals linked to organised immigration crime or human trafficking.
The NCA discovered videos of Zada, including one where he was firing a gun in the air in celebration. In another video, filmed in Iraq in 2021, Zada can be seen at a party with musicians singing a song in Kurdish praising him as “the best smuggler” and throwing cash in the air. Back in the UK, NCA officers recorded conversations Zada had with other smugglers discussing migrant movements, locations and successful crossings. Zada was ultimately arrested in May 2023, leading to the seizure of his phone, which was found to be linked to social media accounts used to advertise crossings and phone numbers.
People smugglers like Zada “risk lives, which is why we are determined to do all we can to stop them, wherever they operate”, clarified Clarke. The NCA has urged anyone with information on immigration crime to report it to the agency either through the online form or Crimestoppers
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