ONE of the world’s most notorious migrant smugglers has been arrested.
Barzan Kamal Majeed, mostly known by the Western media as Scorpion, was detained by Kurdistan Region’s security forces (Asayish) on Monday.
Majeed is wanted by police forces in several European countries, including the UK, for smuggling people across their borders.
An investigation was launched for the criminal upon the request of criminal police organisation Interpol.
Kurdistan Region’s security forces (Asayish) said in a statement: “Following the launch of an investigation, Asayish forces, based on exchange of intel and upon the request of Interpol and as per a ruling by the judge, a great human trafficker and smuggler was arrested.”
Asayish had only disclosed the suspect’s initials and his nickname, Scorpion, but Majeed has been all but confirmed as the man in question.
His arrest comes just three days after being interviewed face-to-face by the BBC in a mall in Sulaimani, Iraq.
He claimed to have no idea of the number of migrants he has transported across the English Channel.
“Maybe a thousand, maybe 10,000. I don’t know, I didn’t count,” he shrugged.
Two years ago a Belgian court convicted Majeed of trafficking offences in his absence and sentenced him to ten years in jail.
But Europe’s most wanted people trafficker disappeared off grid before being traced to Iraq.
A former Nottingham mechanic, he is said to have made as much as £500,000 a night by smuggling migrants across Europe.
His associates previously claimed that Majeed charged £6,000 per person to get into the United Kingdom on a boat.
He would also hide migrants in lorries as they sought a new life in Britain.
