LONDON, FEB 13: Zahid Khan, 51, of South Asian heritage, appeared in Birmingham Magistrates Court charged with facilitating illegal immigration and money laundering in a major people smuggling operation.
Arrested Tuesday in Birmingham by NCA and West Midlands Police, Khan is suspected boss of a network using HGVs to shuttle Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi migrants across the English Channel both ways.
The probe followed a Feb 4 Dover interception of a lorry with 33 such migrants heading to France; driver arrested. A second 44-year-old man, bailed on immigration suspicion, remains in custody for unrelated court no-show.
NCA’s Paul Jones: “Targeting these gangs risks lives and threatens borders—disrupting them is a priority.”
