A criminal mastermind who orchestrated an elaborate people smuggling operation using London taxi drivers has been sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison.
The sophisticated smuggling network
Madjid Belabes, 53, built a criminal enterprise that recruited five taxi drivers to transport migrants from London to Kent, where they would be hidden in lorries for crossing the English Channel to France. The organised crime group operated between December 2022 and September 2023, successfully completing 26 smuggling journeys.
The Crown Prosecution Service revealed that Belabes specifically chose taxi drivers because they could provide a credible excuse for carrying multiple passengers if stopped by police. This clever tactic helped the operation avoid detection for months while generating substantial illegal profits.
Financial gains and criminal operations
Court documents show that Belabes earned at least £287,000 from his criminal enterprise, charging an average of £1,200 per person for the dangerous Channel crossing. In one particularly large operation in February 2023, 58 people from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria were successfully transported to France before being discovered.
All the individuals involved had entered the UK legally on visitor visas, highlighting how the network exploited legitimate travel documents for illegal purposes.
During the trial, prosecutors presented compelling evidence including call and text records linking four drivers directly to Belabes. CCTV footage also captured driver Mourad Bouchlaghem meeting Belabes in London and loading people into his vehicle, with other drivers present at the scene.
Justice served and sentencing
Belabes pleaded guilty on October 29 and was found guilty of possessing more than £11,000 in criminal cash. His total sentence of 10 years and nine months reflects the seriousness of his crimes and his leadership role in the organised crime group.
Four of the five taxi drivers - Samir Zerguine (52), Mourad Bouchlaghem (44), Mohamed Mabrouk (44), and Mohamed Issaoun (49) - pleaded guilty to participating in organised criminal activities. The fifth driver, Said Bouazza (55), was found guilty by a jury. All five will be sentenced on January 23, 2026.
Andrew Hudson of the CPS condemned the operation, stating that people smugglers put "desperate men, women and children in dangerous situations." He emphasised that Belabes and his drivers "would have carried on doing so if they had not been caught."
John Turner, a senior investigating officer at the National Crime Agency, described Belabes as a senior member of a wider crime group who "didn't care about the potentially fatal dangers facing migrants hidden in lorry trailers." He noted that criminal networks involved in smuggling migrants out of the UK are often involved in smuggling people into the country as well.
This case comes amid increased efforts to combat cross-Channel people smuggling, with two Romanian nationals also jailed this week for attempting to smuggle nearly 50 people across the Channel in a separate operation.
