Iraqi Man Sentenced for People Smuggling

0:00On March 26, a 33-year-old Iraqi man named Ramal Breham has been sentenced to 10 years in two months in prison for his part in an Ann, international people smuggling operation. He helped bring Vietnamese nationals into the UK illegally, using small boats across the channel or hiding them in lorries. Breham, who himself crossed into Britain by small boat in late 2020, got busted at his Wolverhampton home in July 2024, after chats on his phone revealed the plot. Investigators found messages where Breham in a contact called Kevin used the word chicken to mean migrants. They haggled over fees like 1,500 pounds per person and even cut a deal for 11 for the price of 10. The ring first got the migrants into Eastern Europe on work visas, then shuttled them to northern France for the dangerous UK crossing. Gang members helped the arrivals vanish into Vietnamese communities, often leaving them open to debt or slavery. Breham showed total disregard for the risks these people faced, treating them like products

1:02for profit, according to the National Crime Agency. Follow-up raids nabbed Kevin in April 2024, and he's now facing extraditions of France on charges including immigration crimes and modern. Slavery Breham also admitted setting up a lorry drop-off of six migrants and collecting big cash payments in places like Coiton and Birmingham. Border officials say they're ramping up powers to catch these smugglers quicker, aiming to shut down these deadly routes for good.