The pictures and faces of migrant criminals involved in smuggling individuals across the Channel have been revealed as the UK takes a step in cracking down on organisations behind deadly small boats crossing.
In a world-first move, these traffickers have been publicly named and will now face asset freezes and UK-wide bans. Any British citizen or company found doing business with them could be hit with heavy fines. The unprecedented crackdown was announced by the Foreign Office as part of a wider plan to dismantle criminal networks profiting from the growing £10 billion people-smuggling industry.
Iraqi-Linked Smugglers Involved in Channel Crossings
Goran Assad Jalal – Coordinated multiple refrigerated lorry crossings into the UK in early 2019.
Hemin Ali Salih – Smuggled migrants in the backs of trucks.
Dedawan Dazey – Operated safe houses in Northern France.
Roman Ranyaye – Facilitated smuggling from Asia to Europe.
Azad Khoshnaw – Supplied inflatable boats and maritime equipment.
Nuzad Khoshnaw – Equipped smuggling gangs with motors and boats.
Nihad Mohsin Xoshnaw – Provided boats and gear used in Channel crossings.
Hawala Network Operators
Muhammed Khadir Pirot – Managed payments from the Kurdistan region via Turkey.
Mariwan Jamal – Oversaw financial flows through hawala networks from Iraq.
Rafiq Shaqlaway – Advised migrants on payments to smugglers in Turkey and Europe.
North African Gangs Operating in the Balkans
Kazawi Gang – Punished migrants unable to pay, often violently.
Tetwani Gang – Known for ransom demands and sexual abuse of migrant women.
Mohammed Tetwani – Self-declared “King” of Horgos and head of the Tetwani network.
Yassine Al Maghribi Al-Kasaoui – Boss of the Kazawi Gang.
Gangland Smuggling Bosses
Bledar Lala – Albanian national running a cross-European smuggling ring from Belgium.
Alen Basil – Former Serbian police translator turned network boss using violence and corruption.
Balkan Crime Syndicates Supplying Fake Passports
Kavač Gang – Organised crime syndicate supplying forged passports between the Balkans and Turkey.
Skaljari Gang – Montenegrin syndicate involved in cross-border smuggling.
Dalibor Curlik – Obtained fake documents for the Kavač gang.
Almir Jahovic – Supplied forged IDs within the Kavač gang.
Marko Petrovic – Acquired false identification for smugglers.
Nikola Vein – Supported Škaljari operations with fake passports.
Ratko Zivkovic – Gathered fraudulent travel documents for gang use.
Dejan Pavlovic – Linked to Škaljari gang’s fake ID operations.
Equipment Supplier
Weihai Yamar Outdoors Product Co (China) – Manufacturer of inflatable boats advertised for use in Channel crossings
Foreign Secretary David Lammy wrote in The Mirror: “Until today, no one had used this powerful sanctions tool against smugglers. That changes now.”
He vowed this was “just the beginning,” adding that other countries are already expressing interest in adopting similar measures.
Brutal North African gangs like the Kazawi and Tetwani networks, who have been linked to abuse and ransom demands, have also been blacklisted.
Key Balkan crime syndicates including the Kavač and Škaljari gangs were named for smuggling fake passports and documents to move people across borders.
A Chinese boat manufacturer, Weihai Yamar Outdoors Product Co, has also been designated for selling inflatables used in illegal crossings.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the move was a “decisive step” in targeting the financial roots of these criminal networks. It comes as the UK signed a landmark treaty with Germany to disrupt smuggling routes at their source.
