A smuggling gang sent more migrants from the UK to France than Sir Keir Starmer has managed to do under his “one in, one out” deal. The returns deal struck between the Prime Minister and French President Emmanuel Macron saw 153 migrants removed from Britain to France as of last Friday (November 28).
Gang leader, Madjid Belabes, 53, recruited five taxi drivers to help smuggle migrants illegally into France in the back of lorries. On separate occasions in 2023, more than 200 North African migrants, including children, were discovered travelling from the UK to France.
Belabes arranged for the drivers to take the migrants from London to lay-bys and service stations in Kent from where they would be transferred into the lorries and smuggled across the border.
He is estimated to have made £287,000 from the plot, with a going rate of £1,200 per migrant, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Fifty-eight Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian migrants managed to get into France before they were found in one incident in February 2023. The CPS said all 58 were in the UK legally on visitor visas.
The CPS said that in total, Belabes masterminded illegal smuggling operations 26 times between December 2022 and September 2023.
On the third day of the gang’s three-week trial, Belabes pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. He was also found guilty of possessing more than £11,000 from his crimes. He was sentenced to 10 years and nine months at Kingston Crown Court on Friday (November 28). He will be taken back to court by the CPS to recover as much of his criminal gains as possible.
During the trial, four out of the five drivers pleaded guilty to taking part in the organised crime group’s activities.
Samir Zerguine, 52, Mourad Bouchlaghem, 44, Mohamed Mabrouk, 44, Mohamed Issaoun, 49, pleaded guilty to being part of an organised crime gang. Said Bouazza, 55, was found guilty by jurors. The five drivers are all due to be sentenced on January 23. All six members of the gang are Algerian nationals.
The CPS argued that all five drivers were hired because Belabes believed they would have a “credible” excuse for having multiple people in their cars if they got stopped by the police.
Four of the drivers were caught after the National Crime Agency linked calls and texts on their phones to Belabes. Bouchlaghem was caught on CCTV meeting Belabes in London and filmed putting migrants into his car.
Andrew Hudson, a Specialist Prosecutor at the CPS, said on the day of Belabes’ sentencing: “Fighting migration crime is not only about prosecuting illegal entry to the UK but also going after those who make money from smuggling people to neighbouring countries and, in doing so, put desperate men, women and children in dangerous situations.
“Madjid Belabes and his five drivers helped migrants cross the Channel 26 times over 10 months and would have carried on doing so if they had not been caught. The sentence given today shows how seriously our justice system takes this offending and stands as a warning to other gangs.
“The Crown Prosecution Service will continue to work with our partners at home and overseas and play a vital role in bringing those involved in any aspect of organised immigration crime to justice.”
John Turner, NCA senior investigting officer, said: “We know the gangs and drivers involved in smuggling migrants out of the UK are often involved in smuggling into the UK too. Like Madjid Belabes, their only concern is making money. Belabes didn’t care about the potentially fatal dangers facing migrants hidden in lorry trailers.
“He was in charge of this cell and he was a senior member of the wider crime group. He recruited the drivers to move the migrants. But he also liked to get his hands dirty by gathering the migrants together and driving them himself. These criminal networks treat human beings like commodities.
“Tackling organised immigration crime is a key priority for the NCA, and alongside our international law enforcement partners, we are relentless in our efforts to dismantle these networks wherever they operate.”
Two of the lorry drivers involved in the onward crossings were arrested by French authorities in February 2023, according to the CPS. The CPS said it is not clear how many migrants the gang transported to Kent in total.