A people smuggler who referred to migrants as "chickens" has been jailed for just over 10 years for his role in arranging illegal crossings to the UK.
Ramal Briem worked with other gang members to transport people, including six who were brought to Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire in the back of a lorry in March 2024.
The 33-year-old Iraqi national came to the UK illegally by small boat in 2020, after which he claimed asylum. He got involved in the people smuggling network following financial struggles, the National Crime Agency said.
Briem pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration at Wolverhampton Crown Court in October 2024.
Sentencing him earlier at Worcester Crown Court, Judge Andrew Lockhart KC suggested that Briem, who had been living in Wolverhampton, was also deported after his sentencing was complete.
The judge said it was hard to imagine "a more serious example of a people trafficker".
"You were part of an organised crime group (OCG) bringing significant numbers of immigrants from across the globe," he said.
"Victims found themselves threatened, abused and placed at huge risk…you and the people you work with would prey on them."
The main evidence for the case came from seized mobile phones, with messages between Briem and another gang member known as "Kevin".
They discussed the movement of people they referred to as "chickens" waiting for illegal crossings in northern France.
Briem said in one exchange that if he received "20 chickens, two of them were free".
Prosecutor Cathlyn Orchard told the court that Briem also used a boat emoji in the messages.
This breaking news story is being updated.
Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Related internet links
LATEST POSTS
- 1
If someone's always late, is it time blindness, or are they just being rude? - 2'We are ready': NASA still on track to launch Artemis 2 astronauts to the moon April 1
- 3Americans generally like wolves − except when we’re reminded of our politics
- 4Germany's Bundestag extends two armed forces missions abroad
- 5The Fate of Mechanical technology: 5 Headways Forming Tomorrow
- Vaccine committee votes to scrap universal hepatitis B shots for newborns despite outcry from children’s health experts
- The Way to Recuperation: Defeating Dependence
- German state railway loss widens, passengers warned of trouble ahead
- A Couple of Modest Guitars for 2024
- Council removes proposal to rename park named after former president of Israel
- Israeli tourist data from 2025 misrepresented as mass exodus to Thailand
- Herzog, German Chancellor Merz discuss final Gaza hostage, Arrow 3 exchange in Jerusalem
- Did Japan’s PM Actually Back the Memecoin Bearing Her Name?
- South Korea to End Bear Bile Farming and Find New Homes for the 200 Bears Stuck in the Industry
