Ahmed Ramadan Mohamad Ebid, an Egyptian national, has been sentenced to 25 years in jail for smuggling over 3,000 migrants into Europe.
Ebid arrived in the UK in October 2022 and worked with people smuggling networks in North Africa to transport hundreds of migrants from Libya to Italy.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) believes Ebid’s case is the first time someone has been convicted for organizing migrant crossings of the Mediterranean from the UK.
Judge Adam Hiddleston said Ebid had a “significant managerial role within an organised crime group” and his primary motivation was to make money out of human trafficking.
The NCA believes Ebid’s case is the first time someone has been convicted for organising migrant crossings of the Mediterranean from the UK.
Judge Adam Hiddleston said the “conspiracy that you were a part of generated millions of pounds” and he must have been a “beneficiary” of “a significant amount”.
The “truly staggering” amount of money came from the hard-earned savings of desperate individuals who were “ruthlessly and cynically exploited” by Ebid and the crime group.
Ebid was arrested in June 2023 and later admitted to being involved in enabling seven fishing boats to make the dangerous crossing to Europe, with a total of 3,781 migrants on board.
He used the same method to help five more boats make the crossing in the next six months. Each migrant was charged an average of around £3,200, bringing the criminals involved more than £12m.
