A convicted people smuggler, once described as “the godfather” of the French migrant camps, is living in Leicestershire and believed to be seeking asylum while working illegally, a BBC investigation can reveal.
Twana Jamal was given a five-year jail sentence in France in 2016, where authorities described him as one of the most successful people smugglers ever caught.
Prosecutors said the Iraqi Kurd, aged 36 at the time, had earned up to £100,000 a week for moving illegal immigrants across the Channel.
Following a tip-off this year, we traced Jamal to the village of Blaby and witnessed him working, driving a car without a licence and apparently using a false name.
Jamal’s presence in the UK raises serious concerns about whether existing border controls are effective in checking asylum seekers who have committed serious crimes overseas.
Immigration officers have told the BBC that since the UK left the European Union, it has become more difficult to check criminal records from some other countries.
We have found more than 20 active smugglers who have reached the UK – some with overseas convictions, and some claiming asylum using false names.
The man known as ‘Pasha’
Our exposure of Jamal came about as part of a BBC investigation which led to the arrest of a leading people smuggler, Kardo Jaf. That story is told in the BBC Radio 4 podcast, To Catch A King.
We received a tip-off that Jamal, another major figure in the trade, was now living and working in the UK. He was described as driving a BMW and looking “very very rich”.
Like Jaf, Jamal was linked to the so-called Ranya Boys, one of a small number of Kurdish gangs who European law enforcement agencies say have come to dominate cross-channel people smuggling over the past 15 years.
Jamal’s trial in France gave us key details about his background. Prosecutors said that from about 2012 until 2016, he had been operating out of the Grand Synthe camp near Dunkirk, charging his customers £4,500-£5,000 to cross to the UK.
At that time, the mode of travel preferred by cross-channel smugglers was freight lorries rather than small boats.
The court also heard that Jamal’s nickname in the camps had been “Pasha” – a Turkish word meaning someone of high rank.
Jamal claimed in the French court that his had been a case of mistaken identity, but he was found guilty and told he faced deportation back to Iraqi Kurdistan after his release. (BBC)