A National Crime Agency investigation has led to the conviction of three men for people smuggling offences, including a ‘fixer’ suspected of being behind dozens of cross-Channel small boat crossings. Birmingham-based British national Pistiwan Jameel, aged 54, who came to the UK from Iraq in 2002, had contacts with people smuggling gangs based in France, and would broker spaces for his clients while also collecting payments in the UK.

NCA surveillance officers watched as Jameel met one such client, Albanian national Artan Halilaj, 39, in Birmingham on 1 September 2023. A handover of cash took place, and shortly afterwards Jameel made a phone call in which he was heard to say that he had “my three passengers, all good to go, all okay”.

Artan Halilaj, who was at the time living in Southall, had himself arrived on a small boat from Belgium earlier that year. He claimed asylum, but disappeared from the hotel where he was supposed to be staying as his claim was processed by the Home Office. Artan was organising passage for his relative Fiorentino Halilaj, 25, who crossed the Channel in a small boat the next day on 2 September. His phone was taken into the possession of the immigration authorities, but it was later handed to the NCA. It was found to contain a contact for Jameel.

Over the following days NCA officers were able to record his side of a number of conversations Jameel had with criminal associates, in which he arranged crossings for his customers, often referring to migrants as ‘pigeons’ or ‘sticks’.

On one occasion he complained that competition in the people smuggling market was driving prices down. In another conversation he claimed to have made at least two million US dollars for his criminal networks through his contacts. Another conversation suggested that he was involved in moving a migrant to Turkey from the Middle East, and expected to earn around ten thousand US dollars from the enterprise.

Artan and Jameel were arrested by NCA officers on 23 October 2023, while Fiorentino was arrested the following day at the immigration detention centre where he is being held. Jameel’s phone was found to contain information and messages relating to up to 50 people who had entered the UK illegally on small boats during 2022 and 2023, including images taken on boats in the Channel.

Artan and Fiorentino Halilaj were both charged with one count of facilitating illegal immigration, while Jameel was charged with two counts.

Jameel and Fiorentino both pleaded guilty, while Artan denied involvement. Today [Tuesday 12 November 2024] he was found guilty following a week-long trial at Birmingham Crown Court. All three will be sentenced on 3 December.

The NCA’s investigation was supported by Immigration Enforcement Criminal and Financial Investigations and Border Force.

NCA Branch Operations Manager Paul Jones said:

“It is clear from the evidence we were able to gather over the course of our investigation that Pistiwan Jameel was a prolific UK-based broker for people smuggling gangs in France.

“The true number of crossings that Jameel facilitated will never be known but the evidence indicates that he has been assisting in the movement of migrants illegally into the UK for a considerable amount of time.

“People smugglers like him don’t care about the safety and security of those they transport, and he was quite happy to put people in life-threatening situations on the sea in flimsy dinghies just so he could make money.

“This is why tackling the gangs involved in organised immigration crime remains a priority for the NCA, and we will do all we can to disrupt and dismantle them.”