A people smuggling network responsible for bringing hundreds of migrants into the UK has been dismantled following a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation that began after a yacht ran aground off the Sussex coast.
A jury at Maidstone Crown Court found that Mohammed Ali Nareman, 37, from London, was behind extensive smuggling operations involving small boats, HGVs and a yacht, despite being ruled unfit to stand trial due to mental health conditions including PTSD and depression.
The case was heard as a trial of facts, where jurors concluded that Nareman had committed multiple people smuggling offences.
Nareman was linked to a February 2022 incident in Rye, when a yacht ran aground carrying 14 migrants from Iran, Iraq and Albania, including two children. Within hours, all were detained by Border Force officers, and footage recovered from their phones identified Nareman as “Hama Kalari” — the name migrants used to describe their smuggler.
Investigators discovered that Nareman worked closely with Ali Omar Karim, 47, from Portsmouth, who managed a wider European trafficking network moving people from Serbia, Turkey, Kosovo, Bosnia, Romania and Hungary via HGVs and boats.
NCA officers uncovered a trove of digital evidence from Nareman’s phone, including maps of French and British coastlines, photos of migrant passports, cash videos totalling £50,000, and messages organising multiple crossings. One phone was found hidden under a child’s play tent, containing further incriminating footage and communications.
Karim’s phone revealed the scale of their operation — with migrants paying £800–£1,000 to enter the EU, and £1,650 to £24,000 for UK crossings. In one case, the pair discussed a lorry smuggling attempt foiled at Calais in November 2022, when two Iraqi nationals were found hidden inside.
Their messages also exposed their callous attitude toward migrants, including one voice note suggesting that an intoxicated passenger should be “kicked in the head and sent to the dinghy”.
Karim was arrested in Portsmouth in March 2024 and pleaded guilty to people smuggling offences in June 2024. Both men will remain in custody until sentencing on 8 January 2026.
Rachel Bramley, from the NCA, said:
“Mohammed Ali Nareman was extremely prolific in the criminal world of people smuggling. His messages with Karim and others showed the group’s disdain for the people they transported — they were seen as nothing more than a commodity to make money from.
Tackling organised immigration crime remains a top priority for the NCA, and we are currently leading around 100 investigations into the most harmful smuggling networks operating across Europe and the UK.”
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