The found Twana Jamal living in Leicestershire after a five-year jail sentence in France, where prosecutors had described him as one of the most successful people smugglers ever caught. In the people smugglers investigation, Jamal was also found working in the UK and said he had applied for asylum and was "still waiting".
France and Leicestershire
French prosecutors said Jamal earned up to £100,000 a week moving illegal immigrants across the Channel. They said he operated out of the Grande Synthe camp near Dunkirk from about 2012 until 2016, charging customers £4,500-£5,000 to cross to the UK.
The French court heard that the preferred mode of travel for cross-Channel smugglers at that time was freight lorries rather than small boats. Jamal was linked to the Ranya Boys, and European law enforcement agencies say the group is one of a small number of Kurdish gangs that have come to dominate cross-channel people smuggling over the past 15 years.
in Blaby
This year, the traced Jamal to the village of Blaby in Leicestershire and witnessed him working, driving a car without a licence and apparently using a false name. The also said it had found more than 20 active smugglers who had reached the UK, with some holding overseas convictions and some claiming asylum using false names.
Immigration officers told the that since the UK left the European Union, it has become more difficult to check criminal records from some other countries. That gap sits at the center of Jamal’s case: a man convicted in France and told he faced deportation back to Iraqi Kurdistan after his release nevertheless entered the UK and appeared to be living and working there.
To Catch A King
When confronted by the, Jamal said, "I never, I never," before repeating that he had applied for asylum and was "still waiting". The case is tied to the Radio 4 podcast To Catch A King, which set out how a convicted smuggler could surface in the UK after serving time in a French jail.
For anyone checking asylum claims against overseas records, the unresolved point is how Jamal was able to make that move after his French sentence. The ’s findings leave one practical problem in focus: people convicted abroad can still reach the UK, and the checks that should catch them can fail before anyone knows they are there.
