ther by land or by boat. Some migrants also reported being flown straight into Nouakchott.
From there, they’re given choices – they can travel by road or take the maritime route across the Atlantic.
TikTok/Fadi Gujjar
Survivors – who paid the smugglers online via mobile payment apps – said very few of their number had ever sailed before. Most were scared to go in the sea, making the open Atlantic crossing one of the most terrifying moments of their lives.
So while the promise of a quick journey directly into Europe is tempting, it comes with risks.
A global network
Fadi Gujjar is not the only smuggler operating through Mauritania. As BBC Verify investigated, we found other smugglers offering similarly fraught journeys to migrants from far and wide.
A Libyan smuggler widely known in Mauritania as Sherko is one such operator, as are Chadian and Moroccan smugglers. All three are in contact with Gujjar’s network, and their operations all overlap.
Information about the journeys comes through social media posts in which the smugglers appear to boast about their success stories, similar to Gujjar’s Facebook and TikTok profiles.
TikTok/Fadi Gujjar
Most smugglers posting online describe bringing clients in from Pakistan and then leading them all the way through Mauritania to the Canary Islands, a Spanish territory off the coast of West Africa.
Once in the Canaries, those who survive the journey are usually taken by the Spanish authorities to hostels across the country.
For the families of those left behind, all that’s left is news of their children, siblings or spouses sailing into the sea and – for some – the agonising wait for rescue boats to return with survivors, or their bodies.
They are not alone. Hundreds of families across Pakistan and the rest of the world are grappling with what remains of their ties with the lost.
Is this Fadi Gujjar pictured?
At the time of publication, BBC Verify’s investigation has not located where Fadi Gujjar is currently based. He has not been charged in connection with the disaster and his name generates few results online, though his voice messages to survivors appear to confirm the allegations.
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