A UK court has sentenced an Egyptian national to 25 years in prison for leading a human smuggling network that transported thousands of migrants from Libya and North Africa to Europe aboard unsafe and overcrowded boats.
Ahmed Obeid, 42, was convicted at Southwark Crown Court in London for organizing the illegal transport of approximately 4,000 migrants between October 2022 and June 2023.
The British judge described Obeid as playing a major administrative role within a highly organized criminal group that generated over £12 million from smuggling desperate individuals across the Mediterranean.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the ruling, stating on X (formerly Twitter), “Excellent. I am determined to destroy the criminal gangs behind the vile trade in human smuggling.”
According to The Telegraph, Obeid used at least seven small fishing boats to transport migrants, including women and children, from Libya and neighboring countries to Italy. Each migrant paid around £3,200 for the journey, contributing to what investigators described as a massive profit-driven operation.
The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) confirmed that Obeid had entered the UK as an asylum seeker in 2022, after crossing the English Channel in a small boat. Despite a prior conviction for drug trafficking in Italy, he was granted temporary residence and lived in a luxury apartment in Isleworth, west London, where he continued managing the smuggling ring.
Evidence presented in court included intercepted phone calls, messages, images, and videos found on Obeid’s mobile phone. In one recording, he instructed associates not to allow migrants to carry mobile phones aboard, fearing detection. In another call, he chillingly ordered his crew to kill any migrant found with a phone and to dispose of the body at sea.
The NCA, working in coordination with Italian authorities, traced seven smuggling operations directly back to Obeid, including one in October 2022 involving 640 migrants rescued by the Italian coast guard. Other operations launched from Benghazi and other North African ports rescued an additional 1,200 migrants in early 2023.
Jack Beir, NCA Regional Head of Investigations, said: “Obeid was part of a ruthless criminal enterprise that exploited human desperation for profit. His own words revealed his complete disregard for human life. To him, migrants were not people—they were revenue.”
Ahmed Obeid, 42, was convicted in London for operating a sophisticated human smuggling network that moved nearly 4,000 migrants, including women and children, from Libya and other North African countries to Italy aboard small, unseaworthy fishing boats.
The verdict, issued by Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday, followed an extensive investigation by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) in collaboration with Italian law enforcement. The court found that Obeid was a leading figure in a highly organized criminal enterprise that generated over £12 million by exploiting Libya’s chaotic borders and coastline.
According to investigators, Obeid coordinated seven separate smuggling operations between October 2022 and June 2023, launching boats from Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi and other departure points along the Mediterranean. In one case, 640 migrants were rescued by Italian coastguards from a wooden boat launched from Libya. In another incident, 256 migrants were saved after their vessel, also departing from Libya, was intercepted in December 2022.
Obeid himself arrived in the UK in 2022 as an asylum seeker after crossing the English Channel on a small boat. Despite a prior drug trafficking conviction in Italy, he was granted temporary protection and was living in a luxury flat in southwest London, from where he managed the smuggling operation.
Phone records and surveillance intercepted by the NCA revealed chilling details of the operation. Obeid instructed his operatives not to allow migrants to carry phones on board to avoid detection. In one intercepted call, he ordered that any migrant found with a phone should be killed and thrown overboard.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the conviction, writing on X: “Excellent. I’m determined to destroy the criminal gangs behind the vile trade in human smuggling.”
Jack Beir, Regional Head of Investigations at the NCA, said Obeid’s operation was built on the suffering of migrants who were treated as commodities. “Libya was central to his network. The scale of the crossings and the profits speak to a calculated disregard for human life,” he said.
The case once again underscores Libya’s vulnerability as a key launch point for human trafficking operations. While international attention often focuses on arrivals in Europe, the dangerous and often deadly journeys begin on Libya’s shores, where state institutions remain weak, and smuggling networks exploit the absence of law enforcement.
