Manchester Crown Court heard how Tarik Namik, aged 45 and from Oldham, headed up the organised crime group that became subject of a NCA investigation in 2017. Namik operated a lucrative criminal enterprise transporting migrants from Iraq and Iran. Working for him were Hajar Ahmed, 39, from Manchester, and Soran Saliy, 32, from Stoke, who would help co-ordinate the UK leg of the operation. Habil Gider, 54 from Stoke, would act as an escort for migrants once they were in the UK, while Hardi Alizada, 32, from Nottingham, travelled to Europe to co-ordinate from there. The group would offer two separate means of getting to the UK and, once here, the migrants would claim asylum. In one event in September 2017, nine migrants were released from a Polish lorry in a layby in Lancashire. One of the migrants had just dialled 999 to beg for help. The group, which included five children, were desperate for food and water and all were taken to hospital. Namik’s operation was finally dismantled in April 2018, when he, Ahmed and Saliy were arrested by officers from the NCA while Alizada was arrested in February 2019. All five admitted charges against them during a series of previous hearings. Today, they were collectively sentenced to 23 years and 11 months at Manchester Crown Court. This investigation demonstrates the NCA’s commitment to tackling Organised Immigration Crime, working with partners to relentlessly pursue that intent on smuggling vulnerable migrants into the UK.
