An Egyptian man was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Tuesday for orchestrating a human smuggling operation that brought thousands of migrants from Libya to Italy.
Ahmed Ramadan Mohamad Ebid, 42, was convicted of conspiring to facilitate unlawful immigration, providing vessels for the illegal crossings between October 2022 and June 2023. The Crown Prosecution Service revealed that authorities intercepted seven crossings during this period, involving nearly 3,800 migrants, with the criminal network netting over 12 million pounds ($16 million).
Ebid, who played a key role in the operation, promoted the crossings on Facebook, charging migrants an average of over 3,200 pounds each. He was caught by the UK’s National Crime Agency, which bugged his home and uncovered disturbing conversations. On one occasion, Ebid told an associate that migrants caught with phones on his boats would be killed and thrown into the sea.
Ebid pleaded guilty to the charges last year, and Southwark Crown Court sentenced him on Tuesday. Judge Adam Hiddleston condemned the defendant’s actions, saying that Ebid and his gang had “ruthlessly and cynically exploited” the migrants. He added that the migrants were treated as mere commodities, referred to as “cartons,” with Ebid prioritizing the collection of exorbitant fares over their well-being.
