Moment asylum-seeking people smuggler arrested in UK to face 25-year jail term for getting migrants from Libya to EU

A man arrested by the National Crime Agency for masterminding the smuggling of thousands of people across the Mediterranean from north Africa into Europe has been jailed for 25 years.

42-year-old Egyptian national Ahmed Ramadan Mohamad Ebid was detained in Hounslow, west London, in June 2023.

Working with law enforcement partners in Italy, the NCA were able to link him to a number of illegal crossings from Libya.

Ebid was working with people smuggling networks in north Africa to organise boats, bringing over hundreds of migrants at a time on extremely dangerous vessels.

On a number of occasions, he was maintaining communication with criminal associates during the crossings.

In one conversation, recorded by NCA surveillance officers, he told an associate that migrants were not allowed to carry phones with them on his boats as he sought to avoid law enforcement.

“Tell them guys anyone caught with a phone will be killed, threw in the sea,” he said.

One crossing in October 2022 saw more than 640 migrants rescued by the Italian authorities after they attempted to cross in a wooden boat from Libya. It was taken into port in Sicily. Two bodies were recovered.

In another, 265 migrants were rescued by the Italian coastguard from a 20-metre fishing boat found adrift in the Mediterranean in early December 2022. The boat had left Benghazi in Libya.

And in April 2023 two further search and rescue operations were mounted following distress calls to the coastguard – in each case more than 600 migrants were on board each boat.

The NCA has worked closely with the Italian Guardia di Finanza and Italian Coastguard as part of the investigation, to evidence Ebid’s involvement in at least seven separate crossings in 2022 and 2023 which carried almost 3,800 people into Italian waters.

Each migrant had been charged an average of around £3,200, netting the criminals involved more than £12 million in total.

On a phone seized from him after arrest investigators found images of boats, conversations about the possible purchase of vessels, videos of migrants making the journey, and screenshots detailing money transfers.

Ebid pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to assist illegal immigration in October 2023, but claimed he was only a low-ranking member of the network.

The basis of this plea was disputed by the prosecution, with the evidence showing he was a key figure. Following a Newton Hearing at Southwark Crown Court the judge agreed, and on Tuesday 20 May he was sentenced to 25 in prison, with the judge describing him as having held a “significant managerial role within an organised crime group”.

NCA Regional Head of Investigation, Jacque Beer, said: “Ebid was part of a crime network who preyed upon the desperation of migrants to ship them across the Mediterranean in death trap boats.

“The cruel nature of his business was demonstrated by the callous way he spoke of throwing migrants into the sea if they didn’t follow his rules. To him they were just a source of profit.

“He was based in the UK but organising crossings from north Africa. A proportion of those he moved to Italy would also have ended up in northern Europe, attempting to cross the Channel to the UK.

“Working with our partners in Italy we were able to evidence his role in organising boats and the migrants to go in them.

“People smuggling is an international crime and, working with our partners both home and abroad, we are determined to do all we can to target, disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks involved.”

Tim Burton, Specialist Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Ahmed Ebid played a leading role in a sophisticated operation, which breached immigration laws and endangered lives, for his own and others’ financial gain.

“Vulnerable people were transported on long sea journeys in ill-equipped fishing vessels completely unsuitable for carrying the large number of passengers who were on board. His repeated involvement in helping to facilitate these dangerous crossings showed a complete disregard for the safety of thousands of people, whose lives were put at serious risk.

“The Crown Prosecution Service will continue to work tirelessly with law enforcement and international partners, including the Border Security Command, to disrupt people smuggling networks and bring those who profit from this exploitative trade to justice.”

Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said: “For too long our borders have been undermined by vile people smuggling gangs putting lives at risk for cash. Ebid and his associates preyed on vulnerable individuals, with hundreds being crammed onto dangerous boats and charged an extortionate fee for their transport.

“I would like to thank the tireless work and dedication from the NCA in dismantling Ebid’s criminal organisation, working hand in glove with our international partners to save lives and protect our borders.

“This government has introduced the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill to strengthen the UK’s border security, introducing new counter-terror style powers for law enforcement enabling earlier and faster disruption of organised crime. We are steadfast in our mission to protect lives and ensure criminals gangs face the full force of the law.”