UK Sentences Egyptian Smuggler to 25 Years for Mediterranean Migrant Trafficking

Ahmed Ramadan Mohamad Ebid, a 42-year-old Egyptian national living in the UK, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for leading a large-scale human smuggling operation that transported nearly 3,800 migrants, including children, from North Africa to Italy. Arriving in the UK in October 2022 after crossing the English Channel in a small boat, Ebid played a pivotal role in a transnational organized crime network valued at approximately £12 million, which facilitated at least seven dangerous boat crossings from Libya to Italy between 2022 and 2023. The National Crime Agency (NCA) revealed that Ebid ruthlessly exploited vulnerable migrants, packing them onto unsafe vessels and allegedly ordering the killing of anyone caught with a mobile phone onboard. Authorities intercepted several crossings, including one in October 2022 where over 640 migrants were rescued, but two bodies were recovered, highlighting the perilous conditions. Judge Adam Hiddleston condemned Ebid's actions as a cynical and brutal exploitation of desperate migrants, emphasizing that Ebid viewed them as commodities rather than people. This case marks the first time someone has been convicted in the UK for involvement in Mediterranean migrant smuggling, with evidence gathered through surveillance and investigations linking Ebid to the smuggling network.