People trafficking chief who charged migrants £12k to get to UK is jailed

The chief of a people smuggling gang who charged migrants £12,000 to get to the UK by a small boat, yacht, lorry or plane has been jailed for almost nine years. Ali Omar Karim, 47, who smuggled people to the country via small boats and HGVs, was jailed for eight years and seven months on Wednesday at Maidstone Crown Court. Officers identified him after a yacht ran aground in Rye, east Sussex, and CCTV showed people jumping from the vessel and swimming to shore while others travelled in a dinghy before fleeing across land, the agency said. Some 14 individuals from Iran , Iraq and Albania, including two children, were then detained within two hours by Border Force officers. The NCA said its investigation uncovered Karim was in control of a network of people smugglers across northern Europe and the Middle East.