Prolific 'small boat' people smuggler gang snared when luxury yacht ran aground
A luxury yacht, a daring escape, and a criminal mastermind-discover the gripping tale of a smuggling ring that charged migrants a fortune for perilous journeys.
A prolific people smuggler gang who charged desperate migrants tens of thousands of pounds to risk their lives getting into the UK by small boat, lorry, planes and even luxury yachts, has been jailed for almost nine years. Ali Omar Karim, 47, was snared as a key player in an illicit global operation after a yacht his gang had chartered ran aground in Rye, East Sussex.
CCTV showed people leaping from the stranded vessel and swimming to shore, while others clambered into a rubber dinghy to reach shore before fleeing across land. Border Force officials raced to the scene and within two hours had seized 14 individuals – including two children - who had been aboard the yacht and had travelled from Iran, Iraq and Albania. A subsequent National Crime Agency investigation led officers to discover Karim as the man in control of a sprawling network of people smugglers stretching across northern Europe and the Middle East.
Read more: Depraved taxi driver jailed for filming woman and grotesque child fa...
Read more: Man left screaming machete-wielding attacker had 'cut off my hand'
NCA take down prolific people smuggler Ali Omar Karim
The gangster’s phone was seized and revealed how people that he trafficked had paid between £800 to £1,000 to get into the EU before paying a larger amount to travel onwards from France to reach the UK.
Recovered messages showed Karim discussing charging migrants £1,650 each for crossing hidden in an HGV in November 2022. This is believed to have involved a lorry being stopped in Calais on November 17, 2022, where two Iraqi nationals were found hidden inside the trailer.
Further evidence showed Karim, of Portsmouth, had also been involved in organising fake visas so that wealthier migrants could travel to the UK by plane.
He was arrested at his home in Portsmouth in March 2024 and pleaded guilty to people smuggling offences in June that year. The NCA believe he has been responsible for bringing hundreds of people into the UK illegally – earning as much as £12,000 per trip.
*** Ensure our latest news headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings. ***
NCA branch commander Rachel Bramley said: “Karim was a key member of an organised crime group involved in transporting people by HGV, small boat, yachts and planes.
“He was high up in the chain of command, making decisions on crossing days, routes and prices.
“This was a long-running NCA investigation working alongside partners in the UK and overseas.
“Tackling organised immigration crime is a top priority for the NCA, and we are doing all we can to target, disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks behind it, wherever they operate.”
