A 21-year-old man ‘involved in a major people smuggling ring’ has been extradited to Belgium more than a year after he was arrested in Bermondsey.
Zeeshan Banghis, an Afhgan national, was apprehended at an address on the New Kent Road by officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) on 18 December 2024 after a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Belgian courts.
Another man, 24-year-old Saifur Rahman Ahmedzai, was apprehended at an address in Hemel Hempstead a few days later on 30 December.
In November 2024 both men were tried by a court in Antwerp in their absence. Ahmedzai was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, while Banghis was sentenced to three years in jail. Both were also fined 3,000 Euros.
Ahmedzai was extradited to Belgium in June last year. Banghis was extradited to Belgium on 15 January 2026 and both will serve the remainder of their sentence in a Belgian jail.
Belgian prosecutors believed both to have been part of a major people smuggling gang involved in organising the transport of migrants from Afghanistan through Iran, Turkey and the Balkans into western Europe, mainly France and Belgium.
The NCA said many would eventually be put on small boats from northern France to the UK, with the gang suspected of transporting thousands of people this way.
They added that the group also committed serious sexual offences against male migrant minors, including rape which they would video and use footage to blackmail the victims into criminality and further sexual abuse.
NCA investigators supported the Belgian investigation for around two years, supplying intelligence and evidence to the Belgian Federal Police around suspected members of the network.
Relatedarticles
In November 2024 a court in Antwerp convicted and sentenced the pair and 21 other members of the gang to a total of 170 years imprisonment, with sentences ranging from two to 18 years.
Eleven members were tried in their absence, including the two men arrested in the UK.
Officers also worked with colleagues from Border Force and Immigration Enforcement to identify migrants and victims of the network who had been transported to the UK, conducting safeguarding checks.
Andy Kelly, head of the NCA’s National Extradition Unit, said: “This gang operated across the globe and piled misery on migrants they transported, all for the sake of making a profit.
“Many of these people would have been extremely vulnerable, which makes it all the more shocking that disgraceful sexual offences were committed against some of them.
“Our joint investigation with Belgian law enforcement is another example of international action succeeding against a global threat.
“These extraditions display a very strong message that work to disrupt and dismantle the gangs behind this horrendous trade will never slow down.”
