UK police arrest Iranian ‘kingpin’ linked to people smuggling

The UK’s National Crime Agency says it has arrested the suspected leader of an international criminal operation that supplies small boats to people smugglers taking migrants on dangerous voyages across the Channel.

The number of migrants crossing the busy shipping lane from northern France has hit record levels, prompting a crackdown in Britain, including a proposal to send those arriving to Rwanda.

The agency said on Wednesday that it arrested “alleged small boats kingpin” Hewa Rahimpur, originally from Iran, at his workplace in East London, following a joint operation by British and Belgian law enforcement agencies.

It said Mr Rahimpur, 29, was wanted in Belgium on suspicion of being the leading figure in a network that prosecutors say has supplied “significant numbers of small boats to people smugglers”.

The agency tweeted footage of its officers putting the man in handcuffs as he sat in a black Mercedes.

“Many of the criminal gangs involved in these crossings are based outside the UK, but where we do find they have a UK footprint, we will act swiftly to disrupt and dismantle them,” said Jacque Beer, the agency’s deputy director of investigations.

Mr Rahimpur is accused of sourcing boats in Turkey and having them delivered to Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

He then reportedly directed members of his organisation to take them to the Channel coast in northern France to be used by migrants.

He was due to appear in court in London on Thursday for the start of extradition proceedings.