Four suspected people smugglers have been arrested in Libya as a result of joint working between the National Crime Agency and Libyan police.
The group were detained in locations across the country, after the NCA worked with law enforcement partners to target criminal networks moving migrants across the Mediterranean into Europe.
The most significant arrest, on 12 March, saw NCA officers supporting Libyan colleagues to secure the detention of a man implicated in the transportation of hundreds of Syrian migrants across the central Mediterranean using fragile fibreglass boats.
The man, who was located and arrested in Tripoli following months of intelligence development by the NCA and Libyan partners, is suspected of being a significant member of a Syrian people smuggling network who have moved at least two thousand people into Europe.
Evidence found on his phone suggested the end destination for some of those smuggled would have been the UK.
It followed the arrest on 10 March of a second suspected people smuggler, detained in the north east coastal town of Tobruk. He was identified by the NCA as being implicated in the smuggling of migrants of various nationalities into Greece.
And earlier this year in January a Sudanese national was arrested in the north western city of Sabratha. At the time of his detention by local authorities he was in charge of 11 Iraqi Kurdish migrants who were due to be transported into Europe.
Police in Sabratha also detained a Syrian national suspected of arranging the transportation of around 400 migrants. He’s alleged to have been part of a network involved in the large-scale smuggling of people in boats.
In both cases investigations into the wider criminal networks involved continue by the NCA and Libyan partners.
All four men now face prosecution by the Libyan Attorney General’s Office.
The arrests come as the NCA expands its international footprint to target people smuggling networks impacting the UK, through intelligence sharing and capacity building.
NCA International Deputy Director Rick Jones said:
“The fight against organised immigration crime is not limited to the English Channel. We are working to target, disrupt and dismantle these criminal networks wherever they operate, in source countries and in transit countries.
“To do that we need to co-operate with our international partners, and these arrests in Libya demonstrate that co-operation is bearing fruit. We are grateful for the support of the Libyan authorities in this work.
“The criminals involved in this trade don’t care about human life and think nothing of putting hundreds of people at a time into ramshackle boats completely unfit for the purpose of long sea crossings.
“While those arrested in these operations are suspected of moving migrants across the Mediterranean, there is no doubt that some of those smuggled would likely have ended up risking their lives again trying to cross the Channel too.
“I hope these arrests, like those we recently supported in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, send out a message to others involved that no matter where they are, they are not untouchable. Our reach is global and they cannot act with impunity.”
Baroness Chapman of Darlington, FCDO Minister responsible for Irregular Migration said:
“Working with other countries is vital to tackle this vile trade – stopping people being trafficked across the world at huge risk to their lives and securing our borders at home.
“My message to the people smugglers is clear: wherever you are in the world, we are working with international partners to bring you to justice through joint operations like this.”
The arrests in Libya come after the conviction of a UK-based people smuggler who was organising crossings from the North African country to Italy.
NCA investigators, working with Italian partners, were able to evidence Egyptian national Ahmed Ramadan Mohamad Ebid’s involvement in at least seven separate crossings which brought around 3,800 people across in 2022 and 2023.
The 42-year-old, who was living in Isleworth, London, during the time of his offending, had previously pleaded guilty to people smuggling offences, but claimed he had only played a small part in the crossings.
Following a Newton Hearing a judge rejected his claims on Friday 28 March, accepting evidence gained by the NCA demonstrating his organisational role.
He will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on 19 May 2025.
3 April 2025
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