An alleged “right-hand man” of a gang of human traffickers handed cash to migrant families who drowned to cross the English Channel in a rubber dinghy to keep them quiet, a court said.
Harem Ahmed Abwbaker is believed to be one of two main figures in an organized gang of robbers believed to be linked to the crossing that killed more than 20 others last winter.
The National Crime Agency (NCA), which said it would face “French charges for involuntary manslaughter” and for facilitating illegal immigration, gave the death toll at 27, but the court heard that 25 bodies had been recovered through the French Navy when the boat capsized.
Only two of the migrants on board survived. Four other people remain missing, the NCA said.
The 32-year-old is accused of being a member of an organized crime gang crossing in November 2021.
He made the impression at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, where he said he did not consent to his extradition to France. An arrest warrant was issued through the French courts.
Abwbaker, who surrendered his home to the Ramada Hotel in Cheltenham, applied for asylum in the UK, the court said.
His nationality was not specified at the hearing, but he spoke through a Kurdish-Sorani interpreter.
In describing the case, CPS attorney Michael McHardy issued an indictment for seven crimes dating from 2018 to June of this year.
He said Abwbaker was allegedly “the right-hand man of the leader of a gang of organized criminals involved in huguy trafficking. “
He and the user were known through survivors and victims’ families as the leaders of the group, the court said.
Each of the patients paid £3,200 (£2,680) for the journey, the court said, and Abwbaker was allegedly responsible for putting them on the ship.
His phone was detected at the release site on Nov. 23 last year, the day before the incident, and tracked in Germany on Nov. 26, the court said.
The ship described as “totally inadequate” for such a journey, due to lack of rescue equipment or adequate navigation.
Abwbaker reportedly contacted the victims’ families after the incident and handed them cash to keep quiet, the court said.
Referring to the order, McHardy said it stipulated that the ship’s occupants “had no possibility of dealing with any event at sea. “
Abwbaker’s extradition hearing is scheduled for April 3 at the same court at 10 a. m.
The sentencing ruling told Abwbaker, who is in pretrial detention, that the hearing will continue even in his absence.
He told the defendant that if, in spite of everything, he is convicted of the crimes he is accused of, he can go to prison “for a very long time. “
This content is not available due to your privacy preferences.
This content is not available due to your privacy preferences.
This content is not available due to your privacy preferences.