Amanj Zada sang about what a great smuggler he was – and got jailed for 17 years

An Iranian people trafficker who sang about being ‘the best smuggler’ is facing jail for organising dozens of cross-Channel small boat crossings from his home in Lancashire.

Amanj Hasan Zada, aged 34, of Stefano Road in Preston, was convicted today (Fri) following a two-week trial at Preston Crown Court.

NCA investigators were able to link him directly to three separate crossings made from France to the UK in November and December 2023.

Each involved Kurdish migrants who had travelled through eastern Europe, into Germany, Belgium and then France.

Zada, who was known by those he smuggled as Amanj Zaman, advertised his services on social media often using videos of those he had successfully smuggled thanking him for his help.

One film showed a group of migrants on a boat in Italy praising him.

Another video found on YouTube was thought to be recorded in Iraq in 2021 and showed him at a party with musicians singing a song in Kurdish about him being ‘the best smuggler.’

Zada fires a gun in the air in celebration and throws money at his friends as they sing that ‘all the other smugglers have learned from him.’

NCA officers were able to record conversations he had with other smugglers, discussing movements of migrants, locations and successful crossings.

Following Zada’s arrest in May 2024 his phone was seized. Analysis showed it was linked to a number of social media accounts used to post material, and phone numbers advertised on them.

He had direct contact with some of the migrants arrived in boats in 2023. Travel tickets for one of them were found on the handset.

Zada was charged with three counts of facilitating illegal immigration. The jury at Preston Crown Court found him guilty on all three charges.

He is due to be sentenced later.

NCA Branch Commander Martin Clarke said: ‘Amanj Hasan Zada ran a sophisticated people smuggling enterprise, using social media to advertise his services.

‘While we have uncovered evidence directly linking him to three specific crossings, there is no doubt in my mind that he was likely to have been involved in many more.

‘For him it was all about profit, and he had no issues with putting people in life threatening situations as long as he got paid.

‘People smugglers like him risk lives, which is why we are determined to do all we can to stop them, wherever they operate.’