Three members of smuggling gang that sexually abused migrant boys arrested in UK
The trio were part of a network that illegally moved thousands of migrants through Europe and subjected many to ‘extreme cruelty’.
Three members of a people smuggling gang that sexually abused young boys and moved thousands of migrants illegally through Europe have been arrested in the UK.
The trio, who have all been convicted in their absence by a Belgian court, were part of a network that “inflicted extreme cruelty” on the people they smuggled, including children, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said.
The Afghan nationals helped move migrants from Afghanistan through Iran, Turkey and the Balkans into western Europe, mainly France and Belgium, with many then being crammed onto small boats to the UK.
Young boys making the journey were seriously sexually abused, with gang members filming the harrowing attacks and using the footage to blackmail their victims.
Saifur Rahman Ahmedzai, also known as Raees Hamza, 23, was arrested in Hemel Hempstead on Monday; National Crime Agency officers arrested 20-year-old Zeeshan Banghis, aka Bangash Zeeshan, 20, in New Kent Road, London on December 18; and Ziarmal Khan, also known as Boxer Bhai, 24, was arrested on December 6 at Stansted Airport on suspicion of domestic violence, before he was further arrested over his conviction in Belgium.
So far 23 members of the gang have been convicted and sentenced by a court in Antwerp, 11 of whom were prosecuted in their absence.
Ahmedzai was jailed for 10 years, while Khan and Banghis were each sentenced to three years, and all were fined 3,000 euros (£2,486).
Extradition proceedings have begun to send them to Belgium to serve their prison sentences.
The UK’s National Crime Agency worked with Belgian authorities for two years to build evidence against the gang, who now all face sentences ranging from two to 18 years.
NCA deputy director Craig Turner said: “These men were part of a network involved in illegally moving migrants across the globe, through Europe and eventually into northern Europe and the UK, profiting from the dangerous situations they put vulnerable people into as they were transported, and committing the most heinous sexual offences against them.
“The work done by NCA officers, alongside partners in the UK and Belgium, was crucial to securing the convictions in Antwerp of gang members in November this year, and these further arrests should send a very clear message that we will not stop in our work to disrupt and dismantle the gangs that are behind these horrendous crimes.”
The Home Secretary said: “This case is nothing short of sickening. These men ran extensive illegal smuggling operations and inflicted extreme cruelty on the migrants they smuggled – some of them children – when they were at their most vulnerable.”
