A man who organised cross-Channel small boat crossings from his home in Lancashire has been jailed for 17 years.
Aman Hasan Zada, 34, was found guilty of people smuggling charges after an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
NCA investigators were able to link him to three separate crossings from France to the UK in November and December 2023.
Zada, of Stefano Road in Preston, was convicted today following a two-week trial at Preston Crown Court.
Amanj Hasan Zada has been sentenced to 17 years in jail
NCA
The smuggler was lauded on social media by migrants who successfully made the Channel crossing.
He would often advertise his services on social media by using videos of those he had successfully smuggled thanking him for his help.
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Amanj Hasan Zada would advertise his services on Facebook
NCA
Shocking footage 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”, while he throws cash at them and fires a gun in the air in celebration.
NCA officers were able to record conversations he had with other smugglers, discussing movements of migrants, locations and successful crossings.
His phone was seized in May 2024 as he was arrested.
Analysis showed it was linked to a number of social media accounts used to post material with phone numbers advertised.
Amanj Hasan Zada would post about his exploits on Facebook
NCA
Zada was charged with three counts of facilitating illegal immigration.
The jury at Preston Crown Court found him guilty on all three counts charges, and he was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
NCA Branch Commander Martin Clarke said: “Amanj Hasan Zada ran a sophisticated people smuggling enterprise, using social media to advertise his services.
“While we have uncovered evidence directly linking him to three specific crossings, there is no doubt in my mind that he was likely to have been involved in many more.
“For him it was all about profit, and he had no issues with putting people in life threatening situations as long as he got paid.
“People smugglers like him risk lives, which is why we are determined to do all we can to stop them, wherever they operate.”
