LONDON: An Egyptian-born asylum seeker was jailed on Tuesday for 25 years by a UK court for his role in a £12 million ($16 million) operation smuggling almost 3,800 migrants from North Africa to Italy.

Ahmed Ebid, 42, “ruthlessly and cynically” preyed on migrants, the court heard, in what is believed to be the first sentencing of a person organising from the UK boat crossings across the Mediterranean.

He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. Ebid organised seven separate crossings in fishing boats, mainly from Libya, after he arrived himself on UK shores on a small boat in October 2022, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

Judge Adam Hiddleston said Ebid had a “significant managerial role within an organised crime group” and his “primary motivation was to make money out of human trafficking”. The “truly staggering” sums collected came from the “hard-earned savings of desperate individuals” who were “ruthlessly and cynically exploited”, the judge said.

Ebid even told one of those working with him to kill and throw into the sea any migrants found with phones so they could not be caught by police, the NCA said. Ebid, who claimed asylum in the UK and was living on benefits, sourced and provided crews and boats that were loaded with hundreds of people, including women and children, on each voyage.