Man jailed for helping people-smuggling boss

Anjan Ahamdi "played a critical role" in a people smuggling crime group, the NCA said

A man has been jailed for five-and-a-half years after helping a people-smuggling boss transport migrants to the UK.

Anjan Ahamdi, 26, of Stefano Road, Preston, is believed to be the brother of Amanj Hasan Zada, who was jailed last year for 17 years after advertising small boat Channel crossings on Facebook calling himself the "best smuggler".

Zada headed up a criminal network of smugglers moving people from Turkey into mainland Europe and then onwards to the UK.

Ahamdi "played a critical role" in Zada's crime group, staying in contact with migrants and booking travel tickets for legs of their journey, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

The NCA discovered videos of Amanj Hasan Zada, including one where he was firing a gun in the air in celebration

Zada was arrested in May 2024 at his home in Preston, which he shared with Ahmadi, who also acted as his driver.

Conversations recorded by NCA officers showed the pair were in contact with a number of other smugglers in Europe and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

A video, found on YouTube by the NCA and thought to have been recorded in Iraq in 2021, showed Zada at a party with musicians singing a song in Kurdish feting him as "the best smuggler", saying "all the other smugglers have learned from him", while he throws cash at them and fires a gun in the air in celebration.

Ahamdi was arrested in July 2024 after evidence was recovered implicating him in the gang.

Following his arrest investigators found a voice notes conversation on his phone with an individual who wanted to travel to the UK with his relatives, but "not by dinghy".

Ahamdi referred the man to another people smuggler who dealt with lorries, saying "go with my name".

He pleaded guilty to two counts of doing an act to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law by an non UK national on 24 July and was jailed for 67 months following a hearing at Preston Crown Court.