While Madjid Belabes made hundreds of thousands of pounds, the drivers he employed made a lot less
London taxi drivers were paid as little as £25 ‘per person’ to take migrants to lay-bys in Kent so they could be smuggled into France. Madjid Belabes, 53, made £287,000 from the plot; hiring a team of drivers to take men to pick-up locations where they were taken by lorries in order to sneak over the French border.
While Belabes said he was paid £150-£180 per trip, Said Bouazza, who was used once, said he was paid £70 – the same amount as Mohamed Mabrouk, who made eight trips. Samir Zerguine said he was paid £25-£40 per person for his 14 trips, but it is unclear how many people he transported in total.
In one incident in February 2023, 58 migrants who were Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian nationals managed to get as far as France before they were discovered, having entered the UK legally on visitor visas.
Prosecutors argued Belabes masterminded the illegal transportation of people 26 times between December 2022 and September 2023. Three days into a three-week trial at Kingston Crown Court, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced for 10 years and nine months, including for possessing more than £11,000 in cash. The Crown Prosecution Service intends to recover as much money as possible.
Four out of five drivers – all Algerian nationals – also admitted their part during the trial, including Samir Zerguine, 52, Mourad Bouchlaghem, 44, Mohamed Mabrouk, 44, and Mohamed Issaoun, 49. Said Bouazza, 55 was found guilty by the jury, and will be sentenced alongside the others on January 23 2026.
It is thought Belabes hired current and former taxi drivers because they would have a credible excuse for having multiple people in their car if they were stopped. Police linked them to Belabes through call and text records on their phones which were examined by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Mourad Bouhlaghem was captured on CCTV meeting Belabes in London and placing people in his car. Some of the other drivers were also present. Two of the lorry drivers involved in the onward crossings were arrested by French authorities in February 2023.
Andrew Hudson, a Specialist Prosecutor in the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Fighting migration crime is not only about prosecuting illegal entry to the UK but also going after those who make money from smuggling people to neighbouring countries and, in doing so, put desperate men, women and children in dangerous situations.
“Madjid Belabes and his five drivers helped migrants cross the Channel 26 times over 10 months and would have carried on doing so if they had not been caught.
“The sentence given today shows how seriously our justice system takes this offending and stands as a warning to other gangs. The Crown Prosecution Service will continue to work with our partners at home and overseas and play a vital role in bringing those involved in any aspect of organised immigration crime to justice.”
John Turner, NCA senior investigating officer, said: “We know the gangs and drivers involved in smuggling migrants out of the UK are often involved in smuggling into the UK too. Like Madjid Belabes, their only concern is making money. Belabes didn’t care about the potentially fatal dangers facing migrants hidden in lorry trailers.
“He was in charge of this cell and he was a senior member of the wider crime group. He recruited the drivers to move the migrants. But he also liked to get his hands dirty by gathering the migrants together and driving them himself. These criminal networks treat human beings like commodities.
“Tackling organised immigration crime is a key priority for the NCA, and alongside our international law enforcement partners, we are relentless in our efforts to dismantle these networks wherever they operate.”
Want to contact Callum about a story? Please email [email protected] or WhatsApp/Signal +447580255582
