Following his escape from the UK, a car wash owner who was identified as the boss of a “large-scale” people-smuggling group was arrested.
The court heard that Tarik Namik, 45, led a complex and profitable criminal organisation that brought Kurdish migrants from Iraq and Iran into the UK.
He skipped a hearing, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. As a result, he was sentenced to eight years in prison in absentia at Manchester Crown Court in December.
When Namik landed on a flight from Turkey on Friday, authorities held him at Manchester Airport.
Namik, who owned a car wash in Stockport, served as the leader of the organised criminal gang that was the focus of an NCA investigation in 2017.
Hajar Ahmed, 39, of Manchester, and Soran Saliy, 32, of Stoke, who worked for him, would assist in organising the UK portion of the operation.
The court heard that the gang often hired cooperating truck drivers who were Turkish.
Namik may have been engaged in smuggling at least 1,900 migrants into France or Germany over the course of 50 days, at a cost of around €1,800 (£1,548) per immigrant, according to recordings discovered on his phone.
The organisation would then provide two other routes to the UK that would cost more.
The other strategy would be to hide larger numbers of migrants in the back of a truck, likewise driven by a complicit haulier, to be freed after the driver had successfully passed border checks.
After being detained by NCA officials in April 2018, Ahmed, Saliy, and Namik’s operation was ultimately put to an end.
In connection with his participation, Alizada was detained in Nottingham in February 2019 and charged.
Namik, an Oldham resident, is scheduled to appear before Manchester magistrates on Saturday. On Monday, he will receive a formal punishment at Manchester Crown Court.
