A London court has sentenced Ahmed Ebid, a 42-year-old Egyptian national, to 25 years in prison for masterminding a large-scale human smuggling operation that trafficked nearly 3,800 migrants, including children, from North Africa to Italy. Ebid, who arrived in the UK via a small boat across the English Channel in October 2022, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. He was found to be a central figure in a £12 million ($16 million) criminal network operating across the Mediterranean Sea.
Between 2022 and June 2023, Ebid facilitated at least seven illegal boat crossings, transporting migrants in overloaded, unseaworthy vessels. In one incident on October 25, 2022, over 640 migrants were rescued off the coast of Sicily, and two bodies were recovered. Judge Adam Hiddleston said Ebid’s motive was purely financial, declaring that he “preyed upon the desperation of migrants” and exhibited “complete disregard for human life.”
The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) revealed that some of Ebid’s co-conspirators were instructed to kill and dispose of passengers carrying mobile phones, fearing they could expose the trafficking network. “These were death-trap boats, totally unfit for sea travel,” said Jacque Beer of the NCA.
“His actions put thousands of lives at risk for profit,” added Tim Burton of the Crown Prosecution Service, who described the vessels as “ill-equipped fishing boats” used for dangerous sea journeys.
The case highlights the transnational scope of human trafficking networks and the increasing use of British jurisdiction to prosecute international smugglers.
