A man granted asylum in east London has been convicted of helping to lead a criminal gang that smuggled up to 10,000 people across the Channel.
Hewa Rahimpur, 30, was sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined €80,000 at a court in Bruges, Belgium.
He was convicted in one of the biggest people-smuggling trials held in Europe – with 20 out of 21 defendants found guilty.
He was arrested in London more than a year ago after a police operation that involved officers in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as the UK’s National Crime Agency.
Rahimpur arrived in Britain after hiding on a lorry. He initially tried to set up a business as a barber but, after that failed, he instead opened a small food retailer, selling confectionery.
It appeared popular. In fact, many of the customers were actually coming to Rahimpur to pay for trips across the Channel using the Hawala banking system, which leaves almost no trail.
Investigators believe that Rahimpur and his gang charged up to £6,000 for those on the boats, making total profits that sometimes went above £200,000 per crossing.
His gang, in common with other people smugglers, used various social media outlets to find customers but also relied on word of mouth and recommendations from previous passengers.
Craig Turner, the deputy director of the UK’s National Crime Agency, described Rahimpur as “one of the most significant individuals involved in small boat crossings”.
His gang, in common with other people smugglers, used various social media outlets to find customers but also relied on word of mouth and recommendations from previous passengers.
Read more: The hunt for a people smuggling kingpin
Hewa Rahimpur being arrested by officers Pic: NCA
Mr Turner said: “He treated people like a commodity. He just thought about the money, not the safety of the people he was taking across the Channel. That was the business model he profited from.
“He’s a big player. There will be people above him in the OCG [organised crime group] but within the rankings of that group, he is right up there.”
‘Big player’ convicted – but it won’t stop boat crossings
However, Mr Turner admitted that arresting and imprisoning Rahimpur would not stop, or potentially even slow down, the flow of migrants crossing the Channel.
“It’s like a game of Whac-A-Mole… once we take down one, another one pops up in his place,” he said.
“It’s like a vacuum. The thing with these smuggling gangs is that it’s dynamic. They are ever-evolving.”
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How people smuggling works
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The investigation found evidence of a sprawling criminal network that imported boats, motors, life jackets and other equipment from countries including China and Turkey.
The items were stored in various locations, but the fulcrum of their operations was the German town of Osnabruck.
A police raid there recovered a huge haul of equipment destined to be used in cross-Channel smuggling, as well as firearms and cash.
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Alleged people smuggler on trial
Rahimpur, who claimed asylum in Britain in 2016 after saying he was fleeing persecution in Iran, admitted to processing payments between migrants and smugglers but denied being a central figure, telling the court: “I am not a boss”.
However, Sky News can reveal that when he first arrived in Britain he lied about his identity and that he is in fact a well-known figure in the smuggling world.
Rahimpur, pictured during his arrest, ‘treated people like a commodity’ Pic: NCA
Multiple sources have told us that he is in fact called Hama Khoshnaw and comes from the Iraqi city of Erbil, in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
Like many other Iraqi Kurds, he claimed to be Iranian in order to improve his chances of claiming asylum.
When we spoke to a people smuggler in Kurdistan, he recognised Rahimpur immediately from a photograph, telling me: “Yes, I know him – he’s from Erbil”.
Rahimpur has been held in custody in Belgium ever since his extradition from Britain in 2022. He complained about conditions in prison and, at one point, went on hunger strike to protest.
