Migrants leave Tripadvisor-style reviews for people smugglers

Shamo and Khdir were finally sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty to human smuggling halfway through their trial.

A couple who posed under the guise of running a successful car wash in the south Wales town of Caerphilly have been caught after surveillance by the National Crime Agency.

The officers tracked down the smugglers after receiving a tip-off and began secretly recording some of their phone conversations.

Cooperation with the larger Shamo and Khdir organized crime gang would facilitate the movement of people from Iraq, Iran and Syria through Turkey, Belarus, Moldova and Bosnia.

From there they went with many to Italy, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Germany and France they eventually reached Britain.

Waiting for “OK”

Men’s “customers” were offered various levels of service – the simplest was service on foot, truck or smaller vehicle, next on cargo ships or yachts, and the highest “platinum” level involved providing air travel.

The platinum level involved the purchase of a fake passport and plane ticket, costing between £10,000 and £25,000. A top-notch service will cost between £8,000 and £10,000 boat tripwhile the riskiest service – worth between £3,000 and £5,000 – involved traveling by truck.

The money was deposited with Hawala financial brokers in Iraq and Istanbul, who organized and obtained funds from people traveling on specific routes.

Shamo and Khdir used WhatsApp to communicate with people smugglers across Europe and waited for approval to move migrants along a specific route or date after paying a deposit.

When the two were first arrested in April 2023, police overheard Khdir telling Shamo: “Just tell them we buy and sell cars, and just tell them we are transferring money from our country.”