For the first time, criminals responsible for hundreds of dangerous small boat crossings are being sanctioned – meaning they face having their assets seized and will be barred from entering the UK
Gang leaders and criminals responsible for hundreds of small boat crossings and people-smuggling have been named and shamed today in a world first sanctions scheme.
A list of 25 people – including a crooked police translator who became boss of a trafficking network – face having their assets seized. The Government said the individuals – listed in full below – are “at the heart of people-smuggling networks”.
They include gang leaders based in the Balkans and North Africa , suppliers of people-smuggling equipment in Asia and money movers in the Middle East, the Foreign Office said. Among those named by the Foreign Office are Bledar Lala, an Albanian in control of the Belgian operations of an organised criminal group which smuggles migrants.
Others include the Tetwani gang, which the government said is one of the Balkans’s most violent people-smuggling gangs and the Kazawi gang said to control people-smuggling routes in North Africa. Former Serbian police official Alen Basil, who leads a network with the help of corrupt officers, was another gangland boss sanctioned.
The individuals face having their assets seized and will be banned from entering the UK after being sanctioned. It is the first time any government in the world has announced such a scheme, which is similar to the targeting of Russian oligarchs linked to the invasion of Ukraine.
Those named carried out a range of jobs facilitating dangerous crossings – from providing fake passports, transporting engine parts and moving cash.
Ministers hope the move will help deliver a hammer blow to an industry which has grown to be worth over £10billion a year in the last five years. UK firms who deal with sanctioned individuals will face hefty fines worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “This is a landmark moment in the government’s work to tackle organised immigration crime, reduce irregular migration to the UK, and deliver on the Plan for Change.
“From Europe to Asia we are taking the fight to the people-smugglers who enable irregular migration, targeting them wherever they are in the world and making them pay for their actions.
“My message to the gangs who callously risk vulnerable lives for profit is this: we know who you are, and we will work with our partners around the world to hold you to account.“
It comes days after a landmark treaty was signed with Germany – where gangs have been found to store small boat components – to work together on people smuggling.
Announcing the sanctions regime would be put in place earlier this week, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The new sanctions regime marks a decisive step in our fight against the criminal gangs who profit from human misery. It will allow us to target the assets and operations of people-smugglers wherever they operate, cutting off their funding and dismantling their networks piece by piece.”
Full list of those who have been sanctioned
Iraqi-linked people-smuggling
- Goran Assad Jalal, formed part of an organised crime group which stowed migrants in refrigerated lorries which crossed the English Channel from France to the United Kingdom on at least ten occasions between January and March 2019.
- Hemin Ali Salih, helped smuggle migrants into the UK in the backs of lorries.
- Dedawan Dazey, a people smuggler who runs safe houses for migrants in Northern France before they are smuggled to the United Kingdom.
- Roman Ranyaye, an Iraqi people smuggler responsible for the smuggling of migrants from Asia to Europe.
- Azad Khoshnaw, for supplying inflatable boats, onboard motors and other maritime equipment for use in people-smuggling of migrants from France to the UK.
- Nuzad Khoshnaw, for equipping gangs in Northern France with outboard motors, inflatable boats, and other maritime equipment for use in people-smuggling to the UK.
- Nihad Mohsin Xoshnaw, for providing inflatable boats, outboard motors and other maritime equipment used by migrants to cross the English Channel from France.
Hawala Network
- Muhammed Khadir Pirot, a hawala banker who controls payments from people being smuggled from the Kurdistan region of Iraq to Europe via Turkey.
- Mariwan Jamal, controls money movements through a Hawala banker, which handles payments to people-smugglers from migrants in Iraq.
- Rafiq Shaqlaway, involved in hawala banking as an advisor to migrants looking to pay smugglers operating routes into Europe via Turkey.
North African gangs operating in the Balkans
- Kazawi Gang, a people-smuggling network which controls people-smuggling routes from North Africa into the EU known to deal out harsh punishments to migrants who are unable to pay.
- Tetwani Gang, known as one of the Balkan’s most violent people-smuggling gangs, members are reported to hold migrants for ransom and sexually abuse women unable to pay their fees.
Gangland bosses
- Bledar Lala, leads a smuggling ring moving people from Belgium across the English Channel to the UK.
- Alen Basil, a former police translator who through violence and intimidation became boss of a large people-smuggling network.
- Mohammed Tetwani, the head of the ‘Tetwani’ gang and self-styled “King” of Horgos in Serbia.
- Yassine Al Maghribi Al-Kasaoui, the boss of the “Kazawi” gang.
Balkan gangs supplying fake passports
- Kavač Gang, a Balkan organised crime organisation known to use fake passports to smuggle its gang members between the Balkans and Turkey.
- Škaljari Gang, an organised crime organisation in Montenegro that smuggles criminals between the Balkans and Turkey.
- Dalibor Ćurlik, procures fake passports and forged documents for use in the Kavač gang’s people-smuggling.
- Almir Jahović, member of the Kavač gang, which is involved in supplying fake passports for smuggling gang members across borders
- Marko Petrović, a member of the Kavač gang which sources false identification and passports for use in people-smuggling.
- Nikola Vein helps the Škaljari Gang secure fake passports and travel documents for use in people-smuggling.
- Ratko Živković, a Škaljari Gang associate, which gathers fake passports for the purpose of smuggling gang members across borders.
- Dejan Pavlović, a member or close associate of the Škaljari Gang, which supports the manufacture of false identities and passports.
The following company based in China has been designated over the manufacture of inflatable boats being advertised for people-smuggling.
- Weihai Yamar Outdoors Product Co