InfoMigrants

A Turkish national identified by the UK’s National Crime Agency as a major supplier of boats and engines used in English Channel migrant crossings has been sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined 400,000 euros by a Belgian court. Adem S. was arrested at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.

A principal supplier of small boats and engines used in thousands of migrant journeys across the English Channel has been sentenced to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay a 400,000 euros (467,000 British pounds) fine.

Adem S., a 45-year-old Turkish national, was sentenced by a court in Belgium on Wednesday (January 7) following a joint investigation by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and Belgian law enforcement.

Authorities say his equipment played a major role in people-smuggling operations sending migrants from northern France to the UK.

Adem S. was arrested at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam on November 13, 2024. He was later extradited to Belgium, where he admitted charges of people smuggling and membership of an organised crime group on December 3 last year.

Boats tied to Savas used in roughly half of all Channel crossings

The NCA estimates that in 2023 alone, boats and engines linked to Adem S. were used in roughly half of all Channel crossings, making him one of the agency’s top targets in its fight against people smuggling.

Investigators believe he earned millions of pounds by charging around 4,000 pounds per package for his services between 2019 and his arrest in 2024.

Adem S. first came to the attention of the NCA during an investigation into Hewa Rahimpur, a now-jailed smuggling ringleader responsible for facilitating around 10,000 small-boat crossings to the UK. Analysis of Rahimpur’s mobile phones revealed frequent communication between the two men.

Among the material uncovered were messages and images exchanged in November 2021, shortly after 27 migrants died attempting to cross the Channel. Authorities uncovered photographs of a white rubber boat and a screenshot of a news report showing that an identical type of vessel had been involved in the fatal incident. No deaths, however, have been directly attributed to Adem S., according to investigators.

S. 'pretended to run a legitimate maritime supply company'

Rob Jones, the NCA’s director general of operations, said, "Adem s. was without doubt the most significant supplier of boats and engines to people smuggling gangs involved in organizing deadly crossings in the Channel, the head of a criminal network stretching across Europe to the beaches of northern France and across into the UK."

"He pretended to run a legitimate maritime supply company, but in reality he knew exactly how the equipment he provided would be used…He also knew exactly how unsuitable it was for long sea crossings."

Jones added that boats and engines supplied by Adem S. were "likely involved in numerous fatal events in the Channel" and that "he made money from each of those."

'Exchanging human lives for cash'

According to the NCA, the probe uncovered a sophisticated supply chain in which vessels sourced by Adem S., mainly low-cost “Parsun” branded boats manufactured in China, were transported overland from Turkey to Bulgaria and then into Germany. There, they were stored before being distributed for use in Channel crossings.

Adem S. and three other members of his network received combined prison sentences totalling 49 years, a result he said sends a “clear message” to anyone involved in supplying equipment to smuggling gangs across Europe, the UK's Press Association (PA Media) reported Thursday, citing NCA Deputy Director Craig Turner.

British Border Security Minister Alex Norris welcomed the outcome, saying: "We are cracking down on the criminals exchanging human lives for cash." Norris said the NCA have worked alongside "international allies" to "take down this smuggling kingpin and put him behind bars where he belongs."

Departures from northern French shores have become increasingly risky for migrants attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel, as smugglers try to crowd more and more people onto small dinghies and people are boarding in increasingly deep waters in an attempt to evade interceptions from French police | Photo: Reuters

UK records over 40,000 migrant Channel crossings in 2025

At least 17 people are known to have died attempting the crossing last year, according to figures from French and UK authorities, although there is no single official record of fatalities in the Channel. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reported a further 36 migrant deaths believed to be connected to attempts to reach the UK from mainland Europe.

In total, 41,472 migrants arrived in the UK in 2025 after crossing the English Channel, making it the second-highest annual total since records began. However, overall arrivals in 2025 were nine percent lower than the record peak of 45,774 recorded in 2022. The total was 13 percent higher than in 2024, when 36,816 migrants made the journey, and 41 percent higher than the 29,437 arrivals recorded in 2023.

With dpa and EFE