MAJOR SUPPLIER FOR THOUSANDS OF CHANNEL BOAT CROSSINGS JAILED

LONDON, Jan 7 (Bernama-PA Media/dpa) -- A major supplier of small boats and engines believed to be used in thousands of Channel crossings to the UK has been jailed for 11 years and fined €400,000 (US$467,000), reported PA Media/dpa.

Turkish national Adem Savas, 45, was sentenced at a Belgian court on Wednesday after a joint operation between the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) and Belgian authorities.

The NCA believes that in 2023 Savas supplied equipment used in around half of all Channel crossings, making him the agency’s most wanted man as a key figure in European people-smuggling networks.

He is thought to have made millions from charging an average of £4,000 per package in his operations between 2019 until his arrest in 2024.

Savas was first flagged to the NCA during the investigation of now-jailed Hewa Rahimpur, the ringleader of a people-smuggling gang responsible for transporting 10,000 migrants to the UK in small boat crossings.

Evidence found by investigators on Rahimpur's phones showed the pair were in regular contact, including an exchange of messages and pictures of a white rubber boat in November 2021 after the deaths of 27 migrants in the Channel, along with a screen shot of a news website showing how an identical boat had been used in the deadly crossing.

Savas was arrested at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam on Nov 13, 2024 and extradited to Belgium where he admitted offences of people smuggling and being a member of an organised crime group on December 3 last year.

NCA Director General of Operations Rob Jones said: “Adem Savas was, without doubt, the most significant supplier of boats and engines to people-smuggling gangs involved in organising deadly crossings in the Channel, the head of a criminal network stretching across Europe to the beaches of northern France and into the UK.”

"He pretended to run a legitimate maritime supply company, but in reality he knew exactly how the equipment he provided would be used."

"He also knew exactly how unsuitable it was for long sea crossings."

"Boats and engines supplied by Savas were likely involved in numerous fatal events in the Channel – he made money from each of those."

The NCA said working with Belgian colleagues, they discovered how boats sourced by Savas – mainly of cheap "Parsun" branded boats from China – were moved overland from Turkiye to Bulgaria and then across to Germany where they were stored ahead of the journeys.

British Border Security Minister Alex Norris said: "We are cracking down on the criminals exchanging human lives for cash."

"Our brilliant National Crime Agency officers have worked alongside international allies to take down this smuggling kingpin and put him behind bars where he belongs."

-- BERNAMA-PA MEDIA/dpa