Egyptian Smuggler Jailed in UK for Arranging Boats from Libya to Italy
An Egyptian national who helped smuggle thousands of migrants into Europe from north Africa was on Tuesday jailed for 25 years in a London court.
Ahmed Ramadan Mohamad Ebid, 42, conspired with others to assist unlawful immigration by supplying vessels for illegally smuggling migrants from Libya to Italy from shortly after his arrival in Britain in October 2022 until June 2023.
The Crown Prosecution Service said that, during that period, authorities intercepted seven crossings involving nearly 3,800 migrants and made the criminal network more than 12 million pounds ($16 million), Reuters reported.
Ebid was said to have played a leading role in the gang which advertised crossings on Facebook, charging migrants an average of over 3,200 pounds per person.
Ebid’s home was bugged by Britain’s National Crime Agency, which revealed him on one occasion telling an associate that migrants were not allowed to carry phones on his boats.
“Tell them guys anyone caught with a phone will be killed, threw (sic) in the sea,” Ebid said.
