A London court has sentenced Ahmed Ebid, an Egyptian national, to 25 years in prison for his role in a large-scale human smuggling network that transported thousands of migrants from North Africa to Italy.
Ebid, 42, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. He arrived in the United Kingdom in October 2022 after crossing the English Channel in a small boat.
According to Judge Adam Hiddleston, Ebid played a pivotal role in a transnational organised crime group. “His primary motivation was to make money” through trafficking human beings, the judge said during sentencing.
Between his arrival in Britain and June 2023, Ebid was linked to at least seven illegal boat crossings that moved over 3,700 people — including children — from North Africa to Italian waters. The smuggling operation was valued at £12 million (approximately $16 million).

Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) described the extent of Ebid’s brutality. Some migrants told investigators that Ebid instructed an associate to kill and dispose of anyone found with a mobile phone while on board the boats.
“Ebid preyed upon the desperation of migrants to ship them across the Mediterranean in death trap boats,” said Jacque Beer, an NCA official.
One of the most alarming incidents occurred on October 25, 2022, when over 640 migrants aboard a wooden vessel were rescued by Italian authorities. The boat, which was dangerously overcrowded, was escorted to port in Sicily, where two bodies were recovered.
Tim Burton, a specialist prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, highlighted the severe risks migrants faced. “Vulnerable people were transported on long sea journeys in ill-equipped fishing vessels completely unsuitable for carrying the large number of passengers,” he said.
“His repeated involvement in helping to facilitate these dangerous crossings showed a complete disregard for the safety of thousands of people, whose lives were put at serious risk,” Burton added.