By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
ADEM Savas, formerly the “number one target” for the UK’s NCA (National Crime Agency) has been jailed for 11 years for supplying boats used by people smugglers operating in the English Channel.
Savas, a 45-year-old Turkish national, admitted people smuggling offences and membership of an organised crime group at a court in Bruges on 3 December. Judges sentenced him to 11 years in prison and imposed a €400,000 fine.
The NCA said Savas charged on average around £4,000 for packages of boats, despite many likely being involved in fatal accidents.
“He is likely to have made millions over the time of his offending,” the NCA said.
Police detained Savas at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam on 13 November 2024. Authorities later extradited him to Belgium to face prosecution.
Rob Jones, the NCA’s Director General of Operations, said: “Adem Savas was without doubt the most significant supplier of boats and engines to people smuggling gangs involved in organising deadly crossings in the Channel.”
Jones said Savas knew “exactly how unsuitable” the equipment was for long sea journeys.
“Boats and engines supplied by Savas were likely involved in numerous fatal events in the Channel – he made money from each of those,” he said.
NCA probe into Adem Savas
The NCA identified Savas during an investigation into Kurdish crime boss Hewa Rahimpur. Rahimpur led a Europe-wide smuggling network believed to have facilitated more than 10,000 small-boat crossings to the UK. NCA officers arrested him in east London in 2022. Belgian courts later jailed him, with his sentence increased to 13 years on appeal.
Phone and device analysis showed Savas acted as Rahimpur’s main supplier of boats and engines. Investigators found the two men remained in regular contact.
At the time, Savas imported large volumes of low-cost Parsun-branded engines from China. Law enforcement agencies say smugglers commonly used the engines in Channel crossings. The NCA and Belgian authorities traced the movement of equipment from Turkey through Bulgaria and Germany. Smugglers then stored it before moving it to northern France.
Savas used a Dutch haulage firm to transport the equipment. After the NCA identified the company, Dutch police launched a separate investigation. That inquiry later led to convictions for money laundering and drug trafficking.
The NCA said Savas operated from 2019 until his arrest in 2024 and supplied equipment used in thousands of crossings. He charged about £4,000 per package and likely made millions. Investigators believe that in 2023 alone he supplied equipment used in around half of all Channel crossings.
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