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One of Europe’s most notorious human traffickers has been arrested in Iraq following an investigation by BBC.
Barzan Majeed, also known as Scorpion, was arrested in Iraqi Kurdistan on Sunday morning, a senior government official said.
For several years, he and his gang were heavily involved in the people-smuggling trade - in boats and lorries - across the English Channel.
The BBC tracked down Majeed to the city of Sulaymaniya, where he said he had transported thousands of migrants across the channel.
“Maybe a thousand, maybe 10,000. I don’t know, I didn’t count,” he said.
How we found Europe’s most wanted migrant-smuggler
A senior member of the Kurdistan Regional Government said that officials were able to use the BBC's findings to locate Majeed.
“It was at 7am this morning that the arrest was made outside his home, they arrested him the moment he stepped out of the home and arrested him without any major problems,” the official said.
“We are now looking at charges against him here first and foremost, and then we will be discussing with European police and prosecutors who want to question him and deal with him.”
Between 2016 and 2021, Scorpion's gang is believed to have controlled much of the people-smuggling trade between Europe and the UK.
A two-year international police operation resulted in convictions for 26 members of the gang at courts in the UK, France and Belgium.
But Scorpion himself evaded arrest and went on the run.
In his absence, he was tried in a Belgian court and convicted of 121 counts of people-smuggling. In October 2022, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined €968,000 (£834,000).