Europe’s most wanted human trafficker arrested in Iraq

May 14. () –

One of Europe’s most prominent migrant smugglers, identified as Barzan Mayid, alias ‘Scorpion’, has been arrested in Iraqi Kurdistan at the request of Interpol following an investigation by the British television network BBC.

The authorities of Iraqi Kurdistan have indicated, as reported by the Iraqi Kurdish news agency Rudaw, that “after the beginning of the investigation, based on the exchange of information, at the request of Interpol and according to a ruling by the judge, they arrested a major trafficker and human smuggler.

Thus, they have indicated that “no one is above the law” and that they will continue “to confront the accused to provide security and stability to everyone.

The arrest came this Sunday, three days after the BBC included him in an article indicating that a team had interviewed him in a shopping center in the city of Sulaymaniyah, near the border with Iran. Then Mayid confessed that he had organized trips for irregular migrants.

In the interview, Mayid stated that he did not know how many people he had transported across the English Channel: “Maybe 1,000, maybe 10,000. I don’t know, I didn’t count it,” he declared. For several years, his gang controlled much of the traffic on this channel, which separates the United Kingdom from France.

More than 70 migrants have died crossing by boat since 2018, being a dangerous journey that can be lucrative for smugglers, since they charge around 7,500 dollars (about 7,000 euros) per person, as noted by the BBC.

A two-year international police operation resulted in the conviction of 26 members of the gang in courts in the United Kingdom, France and Belgium, but ‘Scorpion’ evaded arrest and went on the run. In his absence, he was tried in a Belgian court and found guilty of 121 counts of human trafficking. In October 2022, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a fine of 968,000 euros.