Preston human trafficker labelled 'best smuggler' convicted for Channel small boat crossings.
Amanj Hasan Zada, aged 34, of Stefano Road in Preston, was today [8 November] convicted following a two-week trial at Preston Crown Court, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency.
Amanj Hasan Zada, aged 34, of Stefano Road in Preston, was today [8 November] convicted following a two-week trial at Preston Crown Court, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, it's Richard Hunt from the Lancashire Evening Post.
00:05An Iranian national who organised cross-channel small boat crossings from his home in Lancashire
00:10has been found guilty of people smuggling charges following an investigation by the
00:15National Crime Agency.
00:17Amanj Hassan Zahra, aged 34, of Stefano Road in Preston, was today convicted following
00:23a two-week trial at Preston Crown Court.
00:25He will be sentenced later today.
00:28NCA investigators, who were able to link him to three separate crossings made from France
00:33to the UK in November and December 2023, and each involved Kurdish migrants who had travelled
00:40through Eastern Europe into Germany, Belgium and then France.
00:44Zahra, who was known by those he smuggled as Amanj Saman, advertised his services on
00:49social media, sometimes using videos of those he had successfully smuggled, thanking him
00:55for his help.
00:56One such video showed a group of men on a boat to Italy, praising him.
01:01However, the NCA said that he was interested primarily in making money from the crossings.
01:07He is due to be sentenced later today.
01:10You're under arrest on suspicion of arranging and facilitating illegal immigration into
01:30the United Kingdom, contrary to section 25 of the Immigration Act 1971, okay?
01:36You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when
01:39questioned something which you later rely on in court.
01:42Anything you do say may be given in evidence, do you understand?
01:51So the grounds for your arrest today, okay, that is believed between October and December
01:562023, you were involved in coordinating and facilitating the movement of a significant
02:03number of migrants across Europe and into the United Kingdom, contrary to UK immigration
02:08law.
02:09Okay, the necessity for your arrest is to allow for a prompt and effective investigation
02:14of the offence, by way of interview under caution, and to allow a search of the premises.