Asylum seeker allowed to remain in UK is jailed for trafficking Channel migrants in a gang run by his gun-toting ‘brother’ who was hailed ‘finest folks smuggler’
An asylum seeker who was allowed to stay in the UK has been jailed for trafficking migrants in a gang run by his gun-toting ‘brother’ who was previously hailed as the ‘best people smuggler‘.
Anjan Ahmadi, 26, was jailed at Preston Crown Court for five years and seven months for his role in helping two migrants to illegally enter the country with border-crossing kingpin Amanj Hasan Zada, 35.
The court heard Ahmadi illegally entered the UK before claiming asylum and had been granted indefinite leave to remain by the Home Office, allowing him to work and claim benefits in Britain.
Ahmadi, who had a Kurdish interpreter in court, is among a growing number of refugees granted indefinite leave to remain who have later been alleged to be involved in people smuggling.
Zarif Khan, his defence lawyer, said Ahmadi had been granted asylum not long before his subsequent arrest by the National Crime Agency for people smuggling offences in July 2024.
Such cases have led to concerns about abuse of the system, which also allows people to later apply for British citizenship, with Reform UK pledging to abolish it if it wins the next General Election.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood also told the Labour Party Conference last month she will prevent people with criminal records and those claiming benefits from being able to qualify for it.
The court heard that after Ahmadi was granted indefinite leave to remain, he went on to assist Zada, known as the ‘best smuggler’ who advertised small boat Channel crossings with testimonials from people he smuggled in on Facebook.
Anjan Ahmadi (pictured) was allowed to stay in the UK by the Home Office before helping two migrants illegally enter the country
Ahmadi worked with Amanj Hasan Zada (pictured), who was hailed as the ‘best people smuggler’
Zada was jailed for 17 years at the same court last November after an NCA investigation linked him to three separate Channel crossings from France in 2023, involving Kurdish migrants who had previously travelled from Turkey then through eastern Europe.
The 35-year-old was convicted on three counts of facilitating illegal immigration.
However, NCA Branch Commander Martin Clarke said after the trial there was ‘no doubt’ Zada’s gang was likely to have been involved in many more illegal crossings as he was running ‘a sophisticated enterprise’ that was ‘all about profit’.
During the investigation, the NCA discovered videos of Zada, including one where he was firing a gun in the air in celebration.
Zada, known by those he tried to smuggle as Amanj Zaman, sometimes used videos of him being thanked by those he had previously helped, which were used on social media to generate more customers, the NCA said.
One showed a group of men on a boat to Italy praising him.
Another, thought to have been recorded in Iraq in 2021, showed Zada at a party with musicians singing a song in Kurdish praising him as ‘the best smuggler’, saying ‘all the other smugglers have learned from him’ while he throws cash at them and fires a gun into the air in celebration.
Yesterday, the court heard that Zada had health problems and was unable to drive, so Ahamdi acted as his driver throughout the enterprise.
Ahmadi, who was granted asylum in 2024, was arrested (pictured) in July that year by National Crime Agency officers
Zada was arrested (pictured) just two months prior in May 2024 before being convicted on three counts of facilitating illegal immigration
The pair lived together in Stefano Road, Preston, and are believed to be brothers, but this has never been conclusively proven, the court heard.
NCA officers covertly recorded conversations Zada had with several other smugglers in Europe and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), discussing movements of migrants, locations and successful crossings.
Zada was arrested in May 2024 and his phone was seized. Analysis showed it was linked to a number of social media accounts used to post material, and phone numbers advertised on them.
He had also had direct contact with some of the migrants who had come to the UK in 2023.
Evidence found by NCA investigators showed that Ahmadi played a critical role in Zada’s crime group, staying in contact with migrants and booking travel tickets for legs of their journey.
Conversations recorded by NCA officers showed the pair were in contact.
Ahmadi was arrested in July 2024 after evidence was recovered implicating him in the gang.
Following his arrest, investigators found a voice note conversation on his phone with an individual who wanted to travel to the UK with his relatives, but ‘not by dinghy’.
Ahmadi referred the man to another people smuggler who dealt with lorries, saying ‘go with my name’.
He eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of facilitating illegal immigration to both the UK and EU.
Zada (pictured) was jailed for 17 years after an investigation linked him to three separate Channel crossings from France in 2023
Defending, Mr Khan said: ‘He will be deported. He was in rented accommodation and had some form of employment. There was no luxury lifestyle and nothing of real value discovered upon his arrest. He was not the organiser, but at all times he acted under Zada’s authority.’
Sentencing, Judge Andrew Jefferies KC, said: ‘This was a purely commercial activity and you must have been expecting some financial reward. Those brought to the UK were strangers to you.’
He disputed defence claims they were not dangerous crossings, adding: ‘The irony was that beautiful yachts were advertised on social media for the travel through the Mediterranean, but at this end of the journey small rubber dinghies were always used.’
He said he was likely to be deported before his term in prison was served, but this would be a matter for the Home Office.
Mr Clarke said after today’s hearing: ‘Ahmadi played a crucial role in Zada’s criminal network, assisting him in moving people into the EU and then to the UK in small boats.
‘Evidence gathered by the NCA showed Ahmadi acted as right-hand man to Zada, arranging illegal transportation across borders, communicating with migrants and other smugglers.
‘These men didn’t care about the risks those they were moving faced, they just saw them as a commodity to be profited from and preyed upon their desperation.
‘In this case we have also been able to take our investigation upstream, working with partners in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to target other members of the network.’
Following Zada’s conviction the NCA supported law enforcement in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in an operation which saw another three members of the network arrested in Sulaymaniyah in January 2025.
They included two other people smugglers and a Hawala banker who had processed financial transactions for the gang.
Mr Clarke added: ‘This investigation has demonstrated how the NCA is targeting people smugglers at every step, from their operations in the UK right the way back to source countries where they previously thought they were untouchable.
‘We have a global reach. Disrupting and dismantling people smuggling gangs like this is a priority for the NCA, and we are determined to do all we can to stop them.’
