Coventry, UK – A man convicted in Belgium of smuggling migrants using refrigerated lorries was arrested in Coventry on Tuesday night, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has confirmed.
Asat Sulieman Mohammad, 55, an Iraqi-born British national, was wanted by Belgian authorities after being convicted in absentia earlier this year for his role in a major people smuggling operation. He was sentenced to five years in prison and fined €224,000 by a court in Ghent in January 2025 but fled before sentencing.
Mohammad’s network was responsible for transporting migrants from Belgium to the UK via the port of Zeebrugge, often concealing them in dangerous conditions inside refrigerated trailers.
Once the migrants arrived in the UK, Mohammad reportedly arranged their collection and coordinated payments to other members of the smuggling ring using the informal Hawala banking system.
The smuggling ring’s activities came to light through a Belgian-led investigation supported by the NCA. One harrowing incident in October 2019 saw Belgian police rescue more than 20 migrants—mostly Iraqis and Iranians, including children—who had been locked in a trailer for over three days. The group was discovered after police heard them banging on the trailer walls, desperately seeking help.
“The methods used by Mohammad and his co-conspirators risked the lives of those they transported,” said Gill Duggan, head of NCA International. “This demonstrates the callous nature of people smuggling gangs who treat people as a commodity to profit from.”
Following Mohammad’s conviction and disappearance, a European Arrest Warrant was issued, triggering an international manhunt. NCA officers located him in the Gulson Road area of Coventry, where he was taken into custody on Tuesday evening.
He is expected to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, where extradition proceedings will begin to return him to Belgium to serve his sentence.
The NCA emphasised the importance of international collaboration in tackling cross-border criminal activity. “Working with international partners, including Belgium, we are determined to do all we can to target, disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks involved,” Duggan added.
The arrest of Mohammad marks another significant step in the ongoing crackdown on human trafficking networks operating between mainland Europe and the United Kingdom. Authorities continue to stress that such operations pose grave risks to the lives and safety of vulnerable migrants and will be met with coordinated international action.
