Men who brought 100 migrants to Europe each week in ‘Tripadvisor for people smugglers’ scheme jailed
Two Men Convicted in ‘Tripadvisor for People Smugglers’ Scheme Receive 19-Year Sentences
Following a guilty plea during the trial, Dilshad Shamo and Ali Khdir, two individuals from Iraqi Kurdistan, were sentenced to 19 years in prison each for orchestrating a large-scale people-smuggling network. The National Crime Agency (NCA) described their operation as a “Tripadvisor for people smugglers,” highlighting its organized, service-oriented structure that moved hundreds of migrants to Europe weekly for two years.
Operated from a car wash in Caerphilly, south Wales, the scheme masked its illicit activities behind a legitimate business facade. The duo utilized Hawala banking—a Middle Eastern financial system—to fund their operations, allowing transactions to remain largely untraceable. This method enabled them to siphon profits without direct cash exchanges, complicating efforts to recover funds.
Shamo and Khdir were legally residing in the UK when they were identified by the NCA. Investigators tracked their activities through extensive surveillance, gathering evidence that linked their car wash to a broader organized crime group. This group facilitated the movement of migrants from Iraq, Iran, and Syria via a network spanning Belarus, Moldova, Bosnia, and eventually Italy, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Germany.
Rating System and Service Tiers
The smuggling operation functioned like a travel agency, with migrants rating their experiences on social media platforms such as Telegram and TikTok. In one video, a man asked,
“How was the route, guys?”
while another passenger gave a thumbs-up. An Iranian family, upon arrival at an airport, expressed gratitude with
“God bless you, we are very grateful.”
Three tiers of service were offered, priced from £3,000 to £25,000. The bronze tier involved travel via heavy goods vehicles or small boats across the Channel, while gold tiers used ships, and platinum included fake passports and air travel. A migrant described their journey in a clip:
“Lorry route agreed with knowledge of the driver; here we have men, women and children – thank God the route was easy and good.”
Financing and Untraceable Profits
Derek Evans, NCA branch commander, compared the operation to a “Tripadvisor for people smugglers,” noting how the pair leveraged a community-driven rating system to build credibility. Their financial methods, however, proved challenging for authorities. Hawala banking allowed payments to be split across brokers in Iraq, Europe, and beyond, using coded transactions to obscure the flow of money.
Despite moving thousands of people across Europe over two years, the NCA reported that only minimal assets were seized in the UK. Most of the profits remained in Iraq or Kurdistan, as the system’s anonymity shielded the criminals from traditional tracking. “The tangible assets in the UK are minimal,” Evans remarked, emphasizing the difficulty of recovering funds through such mechanisms.
While Hawala banking serves legitimate purposes, such as helping those without bank accounts send money abroad, HMRC warns that its ease of use makes it a favorite tool for illicit activities. The agency encourages operators to register for anti-money laundering oversight, urging transparency in transactions. Shamo and Khdir’s case underscores the global reach of smuggling networks and the role of financial systems in enabling their success.
