Hemin Ali Salih has had his assets frozen as part of a ‘world first’ regime
06:32, 24 Jul 2025Updated 07:11, 24 Jul 2025
Hemin Ali Salih(Image: NCA)
A convicted people trafficker from Manchester who helped smuggle people into the UK in the back of refrigerated lorries has become of the first people to be hit with new government sanctions.
Hemin Ali Salih, once of Gorton, was part of an organised crime group smuggling migrants into the UK in the back of a HGV through Portsmouth port.
He fled before he could face trial but the then 37 year-old was convicted in his absence in March 2023 of facilitating illegal immigration.
He is among a group of 25 individuals and entities who have become the first ever sanctioned by the UK government for ‘irregular migration.’
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The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) yesterday (Wednesday) published the list of those it has moved against in as part of the regime, said to be the ‘world’s first dedicated to targeting people-smuggling and organised immigration crime.’
Salih has had his assets frozen and been made subject to a direction disqualification for ‘Iraqi-linked people smuggling.’
The intercepted HGV(Image: NCA)
A listing on the government website says: “He has engaged in a relevant activity, namely people smuggling.
“He facilitated the unlawful arrival of persons into the United Kingdom who were not United Kingdom nationals nor permanent residents in the United Kingdom with a view to obtaining a benefit for himself.
“He facilitated the arrival of migrants in refrigerated lorries which crossed the English Channel from France to the United Kingdom.”
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The National Crime Agency said in 2019 that Salih and another member of the group were identified through mobile phone evidence and found to be in the Chichester area on March 11 that year.
In the early hours of that day, the NCA said its officers watched as members of the group drove a VW Touran people carrier to rendezvous with a lorry driven by a Romanian national, at an industrial estate in the Runcton area of West Sussex.
The truck had arrived in Portsmouth on a ferry from Caen in northern France the previous evening, and was carrying a legitimate load of spinach from Spain. But, said the NCA, it was also carrying at least three people who had been brought to the UK illegally.
David Lammy said the sanctions were a ‘landmark moment'(Image: Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)
After meeting up with the lorry, the VW drove away, only to stop in a layby on the A27, where migrants were transferred into two further cars.
One, a Vauxhall Astra, was stopped by the NCA on the northbound A34 northbound. In it were found two Iraqi nationals – a sister and brother aged 18 and 13 – who were in the passenger seats.
The second car, an Audi A3, was stopped by police on the M3 and a 30-year-old Iraqi woman was found.
Following a four-week trial at Bournemouth Crown Court, six members of the gang received jail terms totalling 26 years.
Salih absconded before the trial could take place. However, he was found guilty in his absence and sentenced to two years in prison. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
The NCA in May 2023 said he was wanted for attempting to use the criminal network ‘to smuggle a relative to Britain’ and appealed for information about his whereabouts.
The NCA confirmed on Wednesday that Salih is still at large.
‘We know who you are’
Among those sanctioned today is Bledar Lala, an Albanian who is alleged to have been in control of the ‘Belgium operations’ of an organised criminal group which smuggles migrants from Belgium across the English Channel to the UK.
Also hit with restrictions is Alen Basil, a former police translator who went on to lead a large smuggling network in Serbia and the self-styled ‘King of Horgos’, Mohammed Tetwani, who oversaw a migrant camp in Horgos, Serbia and is said to have led the Tetwani people-smuggling gang.
Sanctions have also been brought against a company in China which has advertised their small boats on an online marketplace explicitly for the purpose of people-smuggling
NCA Director General Graeme Biggar(Image: PA)
The FCDO said all those sanctioned had been ‘publicly named and barred from engaging with the UK financial system, helping to further undermine their operations. ‘
“Sanctions can disrupt the flow of money and materials – including freezing property, bank accounts and other assets – which allow organised criminal gangs to operate this vile trade,” the department said.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “This is a landmark moment in the government’s work to tackle organised immigration crime, reduce irregular migration to the UK, and deliver on the Plan for Change.
“From Europe to Asia we are taking the fight to the people-smugglers who enable irregular migration, targeting them wherever they are in the world and making them pay for their actions.
“My message to the gangs who callously risk vulnerable lives for profit is this: we know who you are, and we will work with our partners around the world to hold you to account.“
NCA Director General Graeme Biggar said: “The NCA is determined to use every tool at our disposal to target, disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks involved in people-smuggling, preventing harm to those they exploit for profit and protecting the UK’s border security.
“These new sanctions powers will complement that NCA activity. We have worked with the FCDO and partners to progress the designation of these sanctioned persons.
“They will give the UK a new way of pursuing, undermining and frustrating the operational capability of a wide range of organised immigration crime networks, including those who facilitate or enable offending.“