Migrants give ‘Tripadvisor-style’ reviews to people smugglers

Shamo and Khdir were convicted on Friday after pleading guilty to human trafficking in the middle of their trial.

The pair, who posed as if they were running a successful car wash in the south Wales town of Caerphilly, were caught following a surveillance operation by the National Crime Agency.

Following a tip-off, police officers tracked down the smugglers and began secretly recording some phone calls.

Working with a larger organized crime ring, Shamo and Khdir will facilitate the passage of people from Iraq, Iran and Syria through Türkiye, Belarus, Moldova and Bosnia.

From there they would travel with many others to Italy, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Germany and France. finally arrives in britain.

‘Ok I am waiting

Various levels of service were offered to men’s “clients” – the simplest by foot or HGV or a smaller vehicle, the latter by cargo ships or yachts, and the top “platinum” tier by air travel.

The platinum level involved purchasing a fake passport and a flight ticket costing between £10,000 and £25,000. Gold level service, priced between £8,000 and £10,000, will include: boat rideThe riskiest service, between £3,000 and £5,000, involved travel by truck.

The money was deposited with Hawala money brokers in Iraq and Istanbul, who would arrange and receive money from those traveling on specific routes.

Shamo and Khdir used WhatsApp to communicate with people smugglers across Europe, waiting to receive the “OK” for the migrants to be transported on a specific route or time frame once the deposit was paid.

When the couple were first arrested in April 2023, police heard Khdir tell Shamo: “Tell them we buy and sell cars, just transfer money from our own country.”