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A man who was arrested in Fishwick who bragged at being ‘the best smuggler’ has been found guilty of running a people smuggling network.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has released video footage of Amanj Hasan Zada appearing in a music video where he is feted as being the lynchpin of a number of small boat crossings in the Channel.
The 34-year-old, who was arrested after raids in Stefano Road in May this year, also made videos for social media of Kurdish migrants he smuggled illegally into the country praising him.
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Zada, an Iranian national, was found guilty after a two week trial at Preston Crown Court and is due to be sentenced later on Friday (8 November) afternoon. He was found guilty on three counts of facilitating illegal immigration.
Investigations by the NCA linked him to three separate crossings made from France to the UK in November and December last year.
He trafficked Kurdish migrants through eastern Europe, into Germany, Belgium and then France.
His social media network
Zada, who sometimes used the name Amanj Zaman, advertised his services on social media and produced videos of migrants he had smuggled praising him. One of the videos showed a group of men on a boat to Italy.
Another video, uncovered on YouTube by the NCA, showed Zada performing at a party in Iraq in 2021 where he is referred to as ‘the best smuggler’ and saying ‘all other smugglers have learned from him’.
You can watch the clip below or on YouTube by tapping.
In the video he throws cash at the band and fires a gun in the air in celebration.
How Zada was caught
The NCA were able to record conversations Zada had with other smugglers where he discussed the movements of migrants, locations and successful channel crossings.
His phone was seized in May following his arrest and the NCA linked him to a number of social media accounts where he advertised his people smuggling services.
He was also found to have had direct contact with some of the migrants who came over in the crossings in 2023 – as well as travel tickets being found.
What the NCA had to say
NCA Branch Commander Martin Clarke said: “Amanj Hasan Zada ran a sophisticated people smuggling enterprise, using social media to advertise his services.
“While we have uncovered evidence directly linking him to three specific crossings, there is no doubt in my mind that he was likely to have been involved in many more.
“For him it was all about profit, and he had no issues with putting people in life threatening situations as long as he got paid.
“People smugglers like him risk lives, which is why we are determined to do all we can to stop them, wherever they operate.”
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