Two men have admitted running a people smuggling ring that saw thousands of migrants from Iraq, Iran and Syria brought into Europe by plane, boat as well as foot.
Some of the migrants recorded their journeys and gave 'TripAdvisor-style' ratings as feedback to the now convicted organisers.
Dilshad Shamo, 41, an Iraqi Kurd and Ali Khdir, 40, who is also Kurdish from Iran, used a car wash in a small town in the UK as cover for their operation.
The pair had been on trial for organising illegal migration after their operation was uncovered by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), but on Friday they pleaded guilty.
The NCA says those migrants paying thousands of euros per head were offered three tiers of service with the simplest being on foot or via HGV or smaller vehicle, the next by cargo ships or yachts, and the top tier by providing plane travel.
Money was lodged with Hawala network bankers based in Iraq and Istanbul who would arrange and obtain funds from migrants travelling on particular routes.
Shamo and Khdir used WhatsApp to communicate with people smugglers across Europe. Once a deposit was obtained, they would receive an 'OK' for migrants to be moved by a specified route or time frame.
They also used messaging and social media apps to provide videos from people who had already taken the journey so they could advertise their routes, which took many into the United Kingdom, including my small boat across the English Channel.
In one video, a family travelling by plane details the route and states “we are very happy... this is the visa, may god bless him, we are really happy”.
In another, a man travelling by HGV tells the camera: “Lorry route agreement, crossing agreement with the knowledge of driver. Here we have men, women and children. Thank god the route was easy and good.”
Derek Evans, from NCA, described the operation as resembling a "travel agent" adding that "it's like TripAdvisor, they were rating their service within that community".
The NCA branch commander said the pair were “leading a double life and "while on the surface they seemed to be operating a successful car wash, they were actually part of a prolific people smuggling group moving migrants across Europe and taking thousands in payment".
"Our evidence showed migrants moving under Khdir and Shamo made it to EU countries and we assess their journeys have and would have continued into the UK.”
But the pair were under surveillance from the National Crime Agency, Britain’s the equivalent of the FBI, who had had uncovered their roles in a huge people smuggling ring, which they ran from the Fast Track Car Wash in Caerphilly, south Wales.
Shamo and Khdir were first arrested in April 2023 and before being taken to custody, Khdir was heard telling Shamo “just tell them that we are buying and selling cars, just say we do transfer money from our home country”. Both answered no comment at interview.
They were charged in February 2024 with offences of facilitation of migrants through Europe and went on trial at Cardiff Crown Court. They will now be sentenced on Monday.
Prosecutors told the court that the pair used different routes to smuggle people into Europe known as "the Turkey route", "the visa route", "the lorry route" or "the Bosnian route".
"Turkey route" involved migrants from Iran, Iraq or Syria legally crossing into Turkey before illegally travelling onwards by ship into Italy.
The "visa" method would see migrants obtain legal documents to enter countries such as Belarus and Moldova to then be trafficked on into Romania, Germany or Austria.
The "lorry route" would see migrants into lorries and move them on by sea or by road to Italy and Germany or "onwards to other countries such as France." The "Bosnian route" involved cars or taxis used to transport various individuals into Croatia or Slovenia and on to Italy.
Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, added: “Criminals like Khdir and Shamo put countless lives at risk smuggling vulnerable people through Europe in a shameless attempt to make cash.”
