Smuggler who called migrants ‘chickens’ jailed
A people smuggler who referred to migrants as “chickens” has been jailed for just over 10 years for his role in arranging illegal crossings to the UK.
Ramal Briem worked with other gang members to transport people, including six who were brought to Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire in the back of a lorry in March 2024.
The 33-year-old Iraqi national came to the UK illegally by small boat in 2020, after which he claimed asylum. He got involved in the people smuggling network following financial struggles, the National Crime Agency said.
Briem pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration at Wolverhampton Crown Court in October 2024.
Sentencing him earlier at Worcester Crown Court, Judge Andrew Lockhart KC suggested that Briem, who had been living in Wolverhampton, should be deported after his sentence was complete.
The judge said it was hard to imagine “a more serious example of a people trafficker”.
“You were part of an organised crime group bringing significant numbers of immigrants from across the globe,” he said.
“Victims found themselves threatened, abused and placed at huge risk…you and the people you work with would prey on them.”
Briem was arrested at his home in Wolverhampton in July 2024 [NCA]
The main evidence for the case came from seized mobile phones, with messages between Briem and another gang member known as “Kevin”.
They discussed the movement of people they referred to as “chickens” waiting for illegal crossings in northern France.
Briem said in one exchange that if he received “20 chickens, two of them were free”.
Prosecutor Cathlyn Orchard told the court that Briem also used a boat emoji in the messages.
“Kevin” was one of four crime group members arrested by the National Crime Agency and is undergoing extradition proceedings as he is wanted in France. The other three were charged in the UK.
Briem claimed that “Kevin” had showed an interest in how he came to the UK as he wanted to bring some relatives over from Germany.
The court heard that Briem admitted collecting £16,000 from “Kevin” but claimed it was money for cigarettes, not people.
Orchard told the court the plot was to bring Vietnamese nationals to the UK from Romania and move them into Home Office-managed migrant hotels. They would then blend into the local Vietnamese community.
The gang was paid by the migrants themselves, but a share of proceeds would go to other organised crime groups, Orchard said.
Staffordshire Police, who dealt with the incident in Burton, arrested one person but six men fled from the back of the lorry, which was registered in the Netherlands, the court heard.
Briem was arrested at his home address in Wolverhampton in July 2024.
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