A major London-based smuggling gang has been dismantled after it was found trafficking migrants including children as young as five from Britain to France in refrigerated lorries, in a rare case of reverse Channel crossings.
The gang, led by 41-year-old Algerian national Azize Benaniba, orchestrated at least 20 smuggling trips between February and October 2023, packing men, women, and children into dangerous and often airtight vehicles travelling from Dover to Calais.
While most migrant smuggling routes traditionally flow into the UK, this operation marks a disturbing shift, exposing how criminal networks exploit vulnerable migrants regardless of direction. French authorities recorded 93 illegal crossings from Britain to France in 2024, underlining the unusual but persistent nature of this trend.
The victims, mostly from French-speaking North African countries, initially entered the UK on tourist visas allowing stays of up to six months. Once in Britain, they were funneled into the gang’s network and loaded into lorries while some refrigerated, others airtight for the perilous journey back across the Channel.
Each migrant was charged £1,200 for the crossing, with the gang showing little regard for their wellbeing. In one attempt on September 6, 2023, 39 migrants, including women and children, were discovered crammed into a refrigerated lorry in Sandwich, Kent. Several required immediate medical attention, including a child.
One phone video recovered by authorities showed terrified migrants screaming and banging on the sides of a lorry trailer, desperate to escape.
The network was exposed after French border police intercepted 58 migrants hidden in a lorry arriving in Calais from the UK on February 21, 2023. This prompted a joint investigation by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and international partners, who tracked the gang’s movements and rescued multiple groups of migrants before they crossed the border.
The gang’s key players were arrested during coordinated dawn raids in North London on March 20, 2024. Those convicted at Isleworth Crown Court on July 17 included:
Azize Benaniba – 12 years, 11 months,Mohamed Bechkit, 36 – 10 years, 4 months, Mahmoud Haidous, 53 – 13 years, 6 months,Abed Karouz, 40 – 8 years, 10 months,Amor Ghabbari, 32 – 9 years,Mohamed Abdelhadi, 50 – 7 years, 3 months,Mohamed Bouriche, 43 – 7 years, 6 months
Bouriche was in charge of transporting migrants to staging areas near the UK border. The others handled recruitment, logistics, and lorry hire.
The NCA’s senior investigating officer, John Turner, condemned the gang’s reckless disregard for human safety.
“These smugglers had no care for the safety or wellbeing of the people they crammed into lorry trailers, their only concern was making money.
We’ve seen the fatal consequences of this crime. Our investigation protected hundreds of lives and has taken down a prolific people smuggling network.”
Turner added that such gangs frequently engage in both inbound and outbound trafficking and that tackling organised immigration crime remains a top priority for the NCA.
Janine Baugh, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said the gang’s actions were both dangerous and deliberate:
“This was a highly organised group which tried to smuggle migrants to France more than 20 times.
They put lives at risk in inhumane conditions for profit. A video showing people screaming inside a trailer was key in demonstrating just how dire those conditions were.”
Baugh added that the CPS will continue to play a central role in the UK’s new Border Security Command, working with international partners to prosecute organised immigration crime.
While reverse smuggling from Britain is rare, investigators believe many of the migrants opted for France over the UK due to cultural and linguistic familiarity. For North African French-speakers, settling in France was seen as more comfortable even if it meant enduring a second smuggling ordeal.
The case underscores the evolving nature of cross-border trafficking, where people are treated as commodities and profit trumps protection no matter the direction of travel.
