An Iranian man feted as “the best smuggler” after helping migrants cross the channel has been jailed for 17 years.
Amanj Hasan Zada, 34, was linked to three separate crossings made from France to the UK in November and December 2023.
Zada, who was known by those he smuggled as Amanj Zaman, was convicted at Preston Crown Court on Friday following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
He ran the smuggling operation from his home in Lancashire and advertised his services on social media, sometimes using videos of those he had successfully smuggled thanking him for his help.
One such video showed a group of men on a boat to Italy praising him.
Another video, found on YouTube by the NCA and thought to have been recorded in Iraq in 2021, showed him at a party with musicians singing a song in Kurdish feting him as “the best smuggler”, saying “all the other smugglers have learned from him".
#migrants #UK #news
