‘Merchant of death’ sentenced to 15 years for smuggling thousands of migrants across the Channel

Rasoul was so powerful in the criminal underworld that he could control the gang from his prison cell in France.

“We found three mobile phones in his cell,” Ms Carros said, adding that the intercepted calls showed that Rasoul “often bragged about his work”.

“Day and night,” phone taps in his cell showed that he was constantly organizing crossings across the Channel, proving his role as a “network leader” but also his “sense of omnipotence,” the prosecutor said.

During an earlier hearing, Rasoul interrupted the proceedings by threatening two of the translators working in the courtroom.

Rasoul’s lawyer, Julien Delarue, said his client arrived in France at the age of 16 and “had no blood on his hands”.

Other defendants were accused of organizing the transport of migrants to the beaches, overseeing the inflation of the boats and boarding passengers, or managing the landing and delivery of the boats.

The network was run like a business, with Rasoul taking precedence the Vietnamese communitywho, according to the survey, paid more than others.

The first waves of arrests took place from 2021 and then in July 2022, a joint operation by France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, coordinated by the Europol and Eurojust agencies, led to 39 arrests.

Three other suspects linked to the Rasoul network will be tried in March.