Iraqi men caught running ‘Tripadvisor for people smugglers’ from UK car wash jailed | UK | News

Two men who ran a massive human trafficking operation from a car wash have been sentenced to 19 years in prison. Dilshad Shamo, 41, and Ali Khdir, 40, both originally from Iraqi Kurdistan but living and working legally in the UK, organized the smuggling of around 100 migrants a week into Europe for two years; this operation was labeled “Tripadvisor for people smugglers” by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

The two men worked in a legitimate car wash business in Caerphilly, South Wales, and financed the scheme using a Middle Eastern money transfer system called Hawala. Police said Shamo and Khdir facilitated the passage of immigrants from Iraq, Iran and Syria to EU countries such as Italy, Germany and France. It is suspected that many of these individuals eventually arrived in the UK. Immigrants were offered three levels of service; the simplest by foot or truck, the second by cargo ship or yacht, and the highest by plane.

It is believed that a flight route from Türkiye to Germany costing £13,000 was used by at least 11 people during the six-month operation. The couple are believed to have facilitated at least 142 people to travel from Croatia to Italy by taxi for around £800 per person. Platinum, the highest level on offer, will allow migrants to fake passports and air travel and will cost between £10,000 and £25,000.

NCA investigators estimate that at least 409 people were smuggled into Europe by the men in the six months they were monitored by officers. Many of those using the services were looking for a better life in Western Europe.

Before being detained in April 2023, Khdir recorded himself telling Shamo through hidden microphones in police cars: “Tell them we buy and sell cars, tell them we only transfer money from our own country.”

After pleading guilty mid-trial following 10 days of evidence against them in November 2024, they appeared at Cardiff Crown Court for sentencing, where a judge described them as having “leading roles in a sophisticated and successful operation”.

But neither acknowledged their role in the conspiracy was as significant as police made it out to be. They claimed that they were intermediaries facilitating the movement of a small number of migrants and that they did not profit from their activities.

However, police managed to intercept thousands of messages and conversations. Shamo and Khdir used WhatsApp to communicate with human traffickers in Europe. Once the deposit was received, they would receive an ‘OK’ to transport migrants along a specific route or within a specific time period.

NCA branch commander Derek Evans said Shamo and Khdir operated “like a travel agent”.

“Like Tripadvisor, they were rating their services within that community,” he said, adding that investigators had not been able to track down any people they believed had been smuggled into Europe, so they did not know whether any of these immigrants had criminal histories in their home countries.