Illegal immigrant who came to UK on small boat helped smuggle thousands into Europe from London home

An illegal immigrant, who came to the UK on a small boat, was helping to smuggle more than 1,000 others into Europe within a month, a court was told.

Ahmed Ramadan Mohamad Ebid, an Egyptian, was said to have played a "vital" role from his west London home in a £12m operation to get migrants from North Africa to southern Italy.

Ebid, who had worked as a fisherman in the Mediterranean, was in regular phone contact with those on the boats as they crossed the sea, said prosecutor Freddy Hookway.

And a secret bug in his home, installed by National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators, caught him talking in code, speaking about fishing, and referring to boats as "cars".

Mr Hookway said: "We say that at relevant points he's not talking about fishing. They show what his role was and how vital he was to the success of this conspiracy."

He said Ebid had admitted helping seven fishing boats make the crossing, with a total of 3,781 migrants on board.

Ebid was said to have claimed he earned €15,000 for his part in the smuggling operation, but the prosecution believed it was much more. Ebid had described it as "a living".

Interviews with some of the migrants showed they paid an average of £3,273 for a place on a boat.

Multiplied by the 3,781 travellers, that added up to £12,375,213, said the prosecutor.

Mr Hookway said: "It gives an indication of the scale of the profit to be made from this enterprise."

Ebid, 41, has admitted providing boats and crews and giving technical advice during the crossings.

He has also admitted involvement in moving and accommodating migrants before their journey and dealing with paperwork.

Details of the case emerged during a rare Newton hearing - a trial within a trial - where the prosecution and the defence disagree about some of the facts of the case.

Mr Hookway said Ebid entered the UK illegally on a small boat in October 2022 and three weeks later helped two boats carrying a total of 1,250 migrants cross the Mediterranean in convoy.

Once the vessels were in Italian waters a satellite phone on board was used to call the Italian coastguard for help and everyone was rescued and taken ashore.

Ebid's mobile telephone had been in contact with the satellite phone 34 times over two days, Mr Hookway told a judge at Southwark Crown Court on Monday.

The prosecutor said that in the next six months Ebid helped five more boats cross the Mediterranean in the same way, with 3,781 making the journey to Italy.

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"He was in contact with individuals on board those vessels. He appeared to be providing real time assistance to help them sail across the Mediterranean," said Mr Hookway.

"When he was arrested, he had a notebook with pages of coordinates that showed locations in the Med that show a route from North Africa to the southern coast of Italy.

"He had a maritime background; he'd worked as a fisherman. He had intimate knowledge of those waters which allowed him to give this assistance even from long distance over the phone."

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Mr Hookway said Ebid also advised on how much drinking water the migrants would need during the crossings.

Ebid, who has a previous conviction in Italy for the attempted importation of over a tonne of cannabis, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

The hearing is expected to last three days.