An Afghan criminal who boasted he was Europe’s biggest people smuggler has been jailed for 9 years for smuggling illegal immigrants into the UK.

Two other members of the people smuggling gang were today sentenced to a total of 19 years.

The gang is known to be responsible for the illegal immigration of more than 230 young men into Europe, mainly from Pakistan and Afghanistan, although the actual figures are likely to be higher. Almost half of those were smuggled into the UK. The victims were then set to work in pizza outlets to pay off their ’debt’ of up to £10,000.

Kingston Crown Court heard how SOCA surveillance recorded Abdul Hameed Sakhizada in January 2008 saying that in two months he had facilitated 1800 people, claiming “I am Europe’s agent, I am the smuggler of Europe.”

SOCA worked with international law enforcement agencies to investigate the gang, which smuggled its victims through Afghanistan, into Iran and Turkey,then to the Greek islands, and into other European countries including the UK.

Seventeen pizza outlets were raided in January 2008 by SOCA, Kent Police,Northamptonshire Police, Thames Valley Police, Hampshire Police, and UKBA. The gang members were arrested and charged with conspiracy to facilitate the illegal immigration of persons into the EU and the UK, and with conspiracy to launder the criminal proceeds of crime. The victims found were dealt with by the UKBA. Subsequent raids uncovered false birth certificates and driving licences.

Sakhizada pleaded guilty at the start of the trial on 16 March. His role was to coordinate the crossing into Europe from Turkey to Greece – a service he also provided for other international gangs. Independent agents based in each of the other transit countries would manage the different stages of the journey.

The main organiser of the UK trade, Abdul Wakil Niazi, who was involved in the management and running of the pizza outlets, along with Sakhizada’s brother, Ahmed Shah Sakhizada, was found guilty on 21 May. They were sentenced to 12 years and 7 years respectively.

His Honour Justice Welchman called the people smuggling operation “a very serious and well organised enterprise, a complex scheme involving a high degree of planning”.

SOCA’s Director of Enforcement Trevor Pearce said:
“People smuggling is a serious crime which exploits vulnerable people for profit and causes harm to individuals, communities and the UK as a whole. This was a highly sophisticated and well organised criminal enterprise which was prepared to extort money from its victims and challenge the UK’s immigration regime. The message today is clear – the UK is not a soft touch for people smugglers. SOCA’s global connections mean we will find you and we will stop you.”

UK Border Agency Regional Director Tony Smith said:
“We are determined to tackle those who commit organised immigration crime and bring the perpetrators to justice. This was a major international conspiracy to facilitate the entry of illegal immigrants into the UK. “Those behind it showed total disregard for the law, and their motives were purely financial. We will continue to work shoulder-to-shoulder with SOCA, the police and other enforcement partners to stamp out any abuses of the system,and remove those who have no right to be in the UK.”

Janet Boston, reviewing lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service Organised Crime Division, said:
“This was a profitable, sophisticated operation which was run in a highly organised, business-like manner by men who took advantage of those who willingly left their homeland and families to seek a better life. Inevitably these illegal immigrants were in debt to those who helped them gain entry to the UK and were put to work fast food outlets where the money they earned was taken to pay their debts. Any money the organisers made was channelled back into the people smuggling organisation – enabling the whole circle to begin again. “The defendants all had various positions in the “business”.

 Abdul Hameed Sakhizada and Abdul Wakil Niazi were the main organisers while the prosecution case was that others fulfilled the roles of money collectors, book keepers, provided false documents and transferred the money overseas. This was a major people smuggling enterprise and thanks to the hard work of all the agencies involved and the prosecution team in presenting the case, it has now been dismantled. We will now be looking at making applications under the Proceeds of Crime Act for money made by the organisation and for Serious Crime Prevention Orders which will restrict the defendants’ ability to engage in this activity in the future.”

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Over 12.5 tonnes of cannabis resin – enough to produce 36 million spliffs – has been incinerated after an investigation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

The drugs seizure, from the tug boat ‘Abbira’ which had docked at Southampton, represents one of the largest seizures of cannabis resin in the UK. It was destroyed in a specialist incinerator and needed 6 separate burnings to cope with the volume.

10 men were convicted at Winchester Crown Court today for their part in the criminal plot.

In a coordinated operation led by SOCA and involving Leicestershire Police, HMRC andUKBA, 12 men were arrested on the 09th April 2008, at the same time as a search of the Abbira began. Over a number of days, 419 bales of cannabis weighing 12.57 tonnes in total were removed from the fresh water, ballast and foam tanks of the tug.

The prosecution showed that an Israeli organised crime group employed an Eastern European crew to transport the drugs to the UK for delivery to a Leicester based criminal gang. Significant national and international cooperation was needed to target the various groups, and resulted in a lengthy trial with multiple translations and complex argument to prove the importation offence.

Andy Sellers, Deputy Director of SOCA, said:
“This operation was a massive success for international and national law enforcement cooperation. The quantity of drugs seized would have resulted in upwards of three and a half million street deals and would have funded a wide range of other criminal activity. “Taking out both ends of the criminal operation means that not only have we disrupted a supply route into the UK, but also a distribution network that would most likely have stretched right across the UK.”

Joanne Jakymec, Senior Lawyer, Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office said:
“This conviction represents 14 months of dedicated team work between several departments overcoming multiple language barriers. The defendants included nationals from the UK, Israel, Serbia and Ukraine, and as a result international assistance was sought from 10 different countries. The RCPO prosecution team presented over 5000 pages of evidence in support of their case, including material from Israel, USA and Holland.’

Commander Chris Pratt of HM Revenue & Customs /UK Border Agency said:
“The cutter crew and rummage teams used breathing apparatus equipment to remove the drugs from the Abbira’s water and ballast tanks. It took our officers nearly five days to recover and offload the 419 bales from these confined chambers. This was a huge amount of cannabis resin to discover on one vessel and an excellent result for all the organisations involved.”

Detective Chief Inspector David Sandall, who led the Leicestershire side of the investigation, said:
“This case demonstrates how different agencies can successfully work together to disable the international drugs trade. “Drugs are an international concern and to fight multi-national criminality you have to think, act and work outside the county boundaries. There’s no doubt in my mind that this drugs haul was bound for the streets of Britain, some of which would inevitably have ended up in Leicester. By working with SOCA, the UKBA, HMRC and authorities in Israel we have targeted the problem at the source.

“There’s £36m of cannabis that will never reach the street dealers and there are 10 men in prison for their part in this crime. Everyone who worked on this case can feel proud of their achievements today and the part they played in a much bigger picture, targeting international drugs criminality, while at the same time disrupting local drugs supply on the UK’s streets.”
The 10 men will be sentenced on Thursday 04 June 2009 at Winchester Crown Court.

Details of the verdicts:
Moshe KEDAR d.o.b 12/07/1927 (Israel) Guilty 29/052009
Yehezkel SREBRO d.o.b 12/11/1951 (Israel) Pleaded 29/09/08
Mordechai HERSH d.o.b 25/11/1941 (Israel) Guilty 29/05/2009
Mohinder Singh RAI d.o.b 22/02/1964 (UK National) Pleaded 29/09/08
Baljinder Singh RAI d.o.b 18/10/1967 (UK National) Pleaded 29/09/08
Anjum NAZIR d.o.b 01/02/1970 (UK National) Pleaded 17/02/09
Dragan STANKOVIC d.o.b 17/12/1954 (Serbian) Guilty 29/05/2009
Goram OTOVIC d.o.b 28/04/1955 (Serbian) Guilty 29/05/2009
Dusan MILEUSNIC d.o.b 07/10/1959 (Serbian) Guilty 02/06/2009
Negovan JOVANOVIC d.o.b 07/09/1950 (Serbian) Guilty 02/06/2009
Yaroslav KSENOVETS d.o.b 04/09/1973 (Ukraine) Acquitted 02/06/09
Sergiy KHODOS d.o.b 08/02/1983 (Ukraine) Acquitted 02/06/09

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A LIVERPOOL gang behind a massive Scottish drugs farm was stripped of thousands of pounds. John Fitzgibbon, 60, and Michael Fairhurst, 44, ran the sophisticated cannabis operation for more than two years. The Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) raided the farm on the north-east coast of Scotland in the spring of 2007. Officers took the pair and a third man, Richard Ford, 60, to Liverpool crown court to claw back as much money as possible using the Proceeds of Crime Act. The three were stripped of a total of almost £140,000 during the two-day hearing.

Ford, a Newcastle man, was caught handing a 2kg bag of heroin to Fitzgibbon and Fairhurst. He will now have to pay back the drug’s estimated street value of £37,891. Robert Altham, prosecuting, told the court he had not attended court and so he was liable to pay back its full value as well as £2,391 in his bank account and £120 on a credit card. The court also heard that SOCA had sold off Fitzgibbon and Fairhurst’s Scottish farm for £61,000. At its peak the the cannabis farm was capable of generating more than £1m a year.

When officers raided Little Cushnie farm the gang tried to destroy the evidence by setting fire to huge drums of cannabis. But their efforts were unsuccessful and SOCA was able to recover enough evidence to convict the gang. The pair, who also ran a drug pushing operation in Liverpool have also seen their cars impounded and sold off. The court heard that officers had seized a Toyota worth £3,500, a Ford Transit worth £1,000, a Peugeot valued at £3,900 and a Chevrolet worth £4,900. All the vehicles belonged to Fairhurst, of Stanley Park Avenue South, Anfield, and will now be sold off for an estimated total of £7,425.

Fitzgibbon, of Bellfield Crescent, Huyton, yesterday heard that the SOCA officers had seized a stash of drugs held in the cars worth £202,375 belonging to Fitzgibbon. The court also heard that Fitzgibbon, who is now serving a 13-and-a-half jail term for his part in the drug conspiracy, had laundered money by buying thousands of euros. He will now have to pay out about £40,000 and faces an additional 15 month jail term if he fails to pay. This means he either has to sell or remortgage his home to pay off the debt by October 6.

Meanwhile, two of Fitzgibbon and Fairhurst’s accomplices who worked as gardeners at the Scottish drug factory are serving 18 month jail terms. Wayne Nickson, 46, of David Street, Toxteth, and James Truman, 43, of Harefield Road, Speke, had both previously pleaded guilty to being concerned with the production of cannabis.

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