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Convicted French Smuggler Earned £100k Weekly in Leicestershire

7/2/2026

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French Smuggler Found

BBC investigators traced a convicted French people smuggler to a village in Leicestershire.
Twana Jamal, a 36-year-old Iraqi Kurd, is living in Blaby, Leicestershire while seeking asylum and working without a licence.
Prosecutors said he earned up to £100,000 weekly moving migrants across the Channel.
Officers said Brexit has made checking criminal records, noting 15 smugglers hide in the UK.

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UK Halts Data

A Merlin Strategy poll for Independent found 62 % say immigration worsened since Brexit, 55 % support restoring freedom of movement.
A convicted people smuggler is now living in Leicestershire after Brexit halted EU criminal-record data sharing.
Lucy Morton said the UK stopped sharing criminal databases with France, Germany, Belgium and Netherlands.
The BBC reported over 20 smugglers in the UK have foreign convictions, sparking asylum-screening concerns.

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French Smuggler Found

BBC investigators traced a convicted French people smuggler to a village in Leicestershire.
Twana Jamal, a 36-year-old Iraqi Kurd, is living in Blaby, Leicestershire while seeking asylum and working without a licence.
Prosecutors said he earned up to £100,000 weekly moving migrants across the Channel.
Officers said Brexit has made checking criminal records, noting 15 smugglers hide in the UK.

1 / 2