An Iraqi smuggler who transported hundreds of illegal migrants to the UK in small boats, lorries and a yacht has been jailed for eight years.
Ali Omar Karim, 47, who is described as a “prolific” people smuggler by the National Crime Agency, was arrested after a yacht ran aground near Rye, East Sussex, on the south coast.
CCTV released by the crime agency showed migrants jumping from the yacht and swimming to shore, while others used a dinghy before fleeing across land.
Within two hours, 14 people from Iran, Iraq and Albania, including two children, were detained by Border Force officers.
The subsequent NCA investigation revealed that Karim was controlling a network of people smugglers throughout northern Europe and the Middle East.
Officers examining his phone found he had been involved in the movement of people from Serbia, Turkey, Kosovo, Bosnia and other countries through border crossings in Romania and Hungary using lorries.
Karim was arrested in Portsmouth in March 2024, two years after the yacht ran aground, and pleaded guilty to people smuggling offences a few months later.
At Maidstone Crown Court on Wednesday he was sentenced to eight years and seven months in prison.
NCA Branch Commander Rachel Bramley said: "Karim was a key member of an organised crime group involved in transporting people by HGV, small boat, yachts and planes.
“He was high up in the chain of command, making decisions on crossing days, routes and prices.”
Video clips were also found of people on board the yacht after it ran aground in 2022.
When translated, they said: "We are all Hama Kalari's passengers, thank the great God now we are in the water."
The name Hama Kalari was well known to NCA investigators as an associate of Karim, and intelligence mentioning the moniker had featured in a number of other people smuggling investigations.
Evidence on Karim's phone suggested those trafficked paid £800 to £1,000 to get into the EU, and then charged another, larger amount to get from France to the UK.
Messages showed Karim discussing another people smuggling attempt in November 2022 which suggested they charged migrants £1,650 each for a crossing in an HGV.
On November 17, 2022, a lorry was stopped at Calais and two Iraqi nationals were found hidden in the trailer.
In another incident, he discussed a small boat crossing where migrants were drinking alcohol which had caused complaints.
Messages also referred to multiple dinghies, indicating many crossings and the scale of the operation Karim was running.
In January 2023, Karim was heard in a voice note discussing charging two migrants £24,000 to cross by lorry into the UK. If they were arrested in Dover inside the lorry “they not pay a cent".
Other accounts showed that Karim had also been involved in organising false visas so people could travel via plane.
"This was a long-running NCA investigation working alongside partners in the UK and overseas,” said Ms Bramley.
“Tackling organised immigration crime is a top priority for the NCA and we are doing all we can to target, disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks behind it, wherever they operate."
