Man jailed for organising five taxi drivers to work migrant smuggling routes to France
- Perry Richardson
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
An unemployed London man who coordinated a network of taxi drivers to move migrants to Kent for illegal crossings into France has been jailed for 10 years and nine months.
Prosecutors said the operation generated hundreds of thousands of pounds and relied on drivers using their legitimate taxi roles as cover during repeated journeys from the capital to motorway lay-bys.
Kingston Crown Court heard that 53-year-old Madjid Belabes arranged at least 26 trips between December 2022 and September 2023. The Crown Prosecution Service estimated he made around £287,000, charging roughly £1,200 for each migrant transported to rendezvous points where lorries would then take them across the Channel. Belabes pleaded guilty on 29 October during the third day of a scheduled three-week trial.
The court was told that the scheme involved five taxi drivers who collected migrants in London and drove them to Kent service areas. In one incident in February 2023, 58 Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian nationals reached France before being detected by authorities there. All had entered the UK legally on visitor visas before taking part in the attempt to leave.
CPS says ringleader profited from repeated taxi journeys moving migrants from London to Kent for onward lorry crossings
Belabes was also convicted of possessing more than £11,000 in cash linked to his offending. Prosecutors confirmed they will pursue a confiscation order to recover criminal proceeds. All six men involved are Algerian nationals.
Four of the taxi drivers pleaded guilty during the trial to participating in the organised crime group. They were identified from mobile phone call and text records examined by the National Crime Agency, with one driver captured on CCTV meeting Belabes in London before loading passengers into his vehicle. A fifth driver, Said Bouazza, was found guilty by a jury. Sentencing for all five is scheduled for 23 January 2026.
The court heard that payment levels varied. Belabes claimed he received between £150 and £180 per trip, while Bouazza said he was paid £70 for a single journey. Another driver, Mohamed Mabrouk, made eight trips at the same rate. Driver Samir Zerguine told investigators he received £25 to £40 per person across at least 14 journeys. Investigators said the total number of migrants moved through the network remains unclear.
Two lorry drivers responsible for the onward crossings were detained by French authorities in February 2023, disrupting part of the operation. The case highlights the role legitimate transport services can play when exploited by organised groups, reinforcing ongoing enforcement scrutiny across both the taxi and freight sectors.
Andrew Hudson, a Specialist Prosecutor in the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Fighting migration crime is not only about prosecuting illegal entry to the UK but also going after those who make money from smuggling people to neighbouring countries and, in doing so, put desperate men, women and children in dangerous situations.
“Madjid Belabes and his five drivers helped migrants cross the Channel 26 times over 10 months and would have carried on doing so if they had not been caught.
“The sentence given today shows how seriously our justice system takes this offending and stands as a warning to other gangs.
“The Crown Prosecution Service will continue to work with our partners at home and overseas and play a vital role in bringing those involved in any aspect of organised immigration crime to justice.”
John Turner, NCA senior investigting officer, said: “We know the gangs and drivers involved in smuggling migrants out of the UK are often involved in smuggling into the UK too. Like Madjid Belabes, their only concern is making money. Belabes didn’t care about the potentially fatal dangers facing migrants hidden in lorry trailers.
“He was in charge of this cell and he was a senior member of the wider crime group. He recruited the drivers to move the migrants. But he also liked to get his hands dirty by gathering the migrants together and driving them himself. These criminal networks treat human beings like commodities.
“Tackling organised immigration crime is a key priority for the NCA, and alongside our international law enforcement partners, we are relentless in our efforts to dismantle these networks wherever they operate.”
