A trio of Afghan people smugglers convicted for their role in a gang that sexually abused and blackmailed young boys have been arrested. Ziarmal Khan, 24, Zeeshan Banghis, 20, and Saifur Rahman Ahmedzai, 23, face extradition to Belgium after they were arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police and National Crime Agency (NCA) on warrants issued by the Belgian courts.
Khan was caught at Stansted Airport on separate domestic violence allegations on December 6, while Banghis was arrested at an address on New Kent Road in Southwark on December 18. Ahmedzai was arrested at an address in Hemel Hempstead, in Hertfordshire, on Monday (December 30).
Prosecutors in Belgium say the trio’s gang were involved in organising the transport of migrants from Afghanistan through Iran, Turkey and the Balkans into western Europe, mainly France and Belgium, and then into the UK via small boats. Police say the group also took videos as they raped migrant minors, then used the footage to blackmail victims into criminality and further sexual abuse.
In December, a court in Antwerp convicted and sentenced the trio and 20 other members of the gang to a total of 170 years imprisonment, with sentences ranging from two to 18 years. Eleven members were tried in their absence, including the three men arrested in the UK. Ahmedzai was jailed for 10 years, while Khan and Banghis were each sentenced to three years in jail.
Prosecutors in Belgium say the trio’s gang were involved in organising the transport of migrants into the UK via small boats (stock image)
(Image: ITV)
NCA Deputy Director Craig Turner said: “This operation shows that no matter where people smuggling gangs operate, we will find them and bring them to justice.
“These men were part of a network involved in illegally moving migrants across the globe, through Europe and eventually into northern Europe and the UK, profiting from the dangerous situations they put vulnerable people into as they were transported, and committing the most heinous sexual offences against them.
“The work done by NCA officers, alongside partners in the UK and Belgium, was crucial to securing the convictions in Antwerp of gang members in November this year, and these further arrests should send a very clear message that we will not stop in our work to disrupt and dismantle the gangs that are behind these horrendous crimes.”
‘Extreme cruelty’
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper arrives in Downing Street, London, for a Cabinet meeting.
(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, said: “This case is nothing short of sickening. These men ran extensive illegal smuggling operations and inflicted extreme cruelty on the migrants they smuggled – some of them children – when they were at their most vulnerable.
“I am grateful to the NCA, Border Force and Immigration Enforcement officers, for their hard work and dedication in pursuing these vile criminal gangs, safeguarding victims of exploitation and protecting our borders.”
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