People smuggler convicted in France found by BBC living in UK and seeking asylum | BBC News — Transcript

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1. 0:01I've reported on immigration crime for
2. 0:04more than a decade and it's a story
3. 0:06that's grown from migrants in lries and
4. 0:09small boats to the UK's towns and high
5. 0:12streets
6. 0:15where money made by smugglers has found
7. 0:17a home.
8. 0:20This is the man we're searching for,
9. 0:22Tuana Jamal. When he was jailed in
10. 0:25France 10 years ago, police said he was
11. 0:27the most successful smuggler in history.
12. 0:30He made millions from the trade. And we
13. 0:33think he's made a new life for himself
14. 0:35here in Leicster. He's even bragged to
15. 0:37friends in secret that he controls this
16. 0:40place.
17. 0:42He didn't know those conversations were
18. 0:44being recorded. These are his words in
19. 0:47translation.
20. 0:49>> Don't worry if you get a ticket from the
21. 0:50police. I will pay it for you.
22. 0:52Don't worry about anything in this city.
23. 0:54We know everyone in the city. This city
24. 0:56is ours.
25. 0:57>> I don't have a driving license. All I'm
26. 0:59doing is illegal, but it's okay cuz all
27. 1:01this area is mine. They're not going to
28. 1:03catch me or anything.
29. 1:05We think Tuana Jamal is claiming asylum
30. 1:08in the UK. We've tracked him to here, a
31. 1:11village high street outside Leicester,
32. 1:14where he and his brother are running
33. 1:15vape and sweet shops, including one next
34. 1:18door to the office of the local MP. with
35. 1:21my colleague Rob Lorie. We're watching
36. 1:23to see how it's run. The people and the
37. 1:26vans that come and go.
38. 1:28>> I've got eyes right on him now.
39. 1:30>> Have you?
40. 1:30>> Yeah.
41. 1:31>> He come out of the shop.
42. 1:32>> Yeah. He's just he's just been arranging
43. 1:34the chairs.
44. 1:36>> Tuana Jamal was once dubbed the king of
45. 1:38the jungle. It referred to the Cala
46. 1:41Jungle, the largest migrant camp in
47. 1:43France. At its peak, 8,000 people lived
48. 1:46there, and Jamal helped thousands of
49. 1:49them to enter the UK, hidden in lorries.
50. 1:53He was jailed in France in 2016. And
51. 1:56French police believed he was funneling
52. 1:58some of the millions of pounds he made
53. 2:00into small businesses in the UK,
54. 2:03planning for his retirement.
55. 2:06We think Tuana Jamal is doing it here in
56. 2:09Leicester.
57. 2:10>> Oh, this is going here.
58. 2:11>> He's from Iraqi Kurdistan. And on this
59. 2:14short high street in the village of
60. 2:15Blayby, there are several Kurdish
61. 2:17businesses. The kind of thing you find
62. 2:20up and down the country.
63. 2:22>> And you were mentioning a couple of new
64. 2:24stores that had opened. What are they?
65. 2:26>> Yeah. So, there's like an American candy
66. 2:28place which is or you go in and it's
67. 2:30like it's weird. And then there's
68. 2:33another store opened. It's it's exactly
69. 2:36the same. Um, so it's kind of like again
70. 2:38I'm not sure why maybe need to have two
71. 2:41of those kind of shops. You need a lot
72. 2:43of money to open one shop and they all
73. 2:46seem to be linked. How are they doing
74. 2:48it? How do they make them things work?
75. 2:50>> Do you ever wonder what we really know
76. 2:51about the people that are opening these
77. 2:52stores?
78. 2:53>> Yeah, it does feel kind of like a little
79. 2:55bit unknown.
80. 2:58>> Yeah. Little bit secret, isn't it? Yeah.
81. 3:01>> There's nothing online that links Tuana
82. 3:03Jamal to any of the shops he's running.
83. 3:06>> Go to the photograph we took from T.
84. 3:07>> So, we need to identify him in person.
85. 3:10So, one of the best things we've got is
86. 3:12a picture of him in court.
87. 3:14>> He's just been sentenced to 5 years in
88. 3:16prison there.
89. 3:17>> Our trouble
90. 3:18is how we make an identification now.
91. 3:21>> 10 years on.
92. 3:22>> Yeah.
93. 3:22>> First of all, he's got a very
94. 3:24distinctive hairline. If you scroll down
95. 3:27>> Yeah.
96. 3:28>> Look at that on his hand.
97. 3:29>> So, it's like a tattoo.
98. 3:31>> It almost looks like a cannon pointing
99. 3:33down. So, he's had some work done on it,
100. 3:35hasn't he? To cover it up. He's got a
101. 3:38distinctive kink in his ear.
102. 3:40>> So those three things is how we're going
103. 3:42to identify him all this time later
104. 3:45because this guy is in the UK.
105. 3:49>> When we're confident it's him from a
106. 3:51distance, Rob goes into one of the shops
107. 3:53and films undercover.
108. 3:56>> What's your name?
109. 3:57>> Sultan.
110. 3:57>> Sultan. Nice to meet you.
111. 3:58>> The so-called king of smugglers is
112. 4:00calling himself Sultan to customers.
113. 4:05We think to claim asylum, he's just
114. 4:07changed his surname.
115. 4:11>> The Home Office says it carries out
116. 4:13mandatory security checks to work out
117. 4:15who people are and to check for criminal
118. 4:18backgrounds, but it doesn't say what
119. 4:20checks it makes for security reasons.
120. 4:25>> What's wrong?
121. 4:27>> It's our man,
122. 4:28>> is it?
123. 4:29>> Yeah, it's our man 100%.
124. 4:30>> We've actually got him.
125. 4:32>> I introduced myself. I shook his hand
126. 4:33cuz I wanted to see his tattoo.
127. 4:35>> Can you see him, too? He's about 500 y.
128. 4:37>> At a distance, we watch how he's living
129. 4:39between two addresses.
130. 4:41>> We're going to try and get in there.
131. 4:43>> The main one has metal gates and parking
132. 4:45for several vans, hidden from view.
133. 4:49>> So, there he is. There's our man.
134. 4:52>> A building site on the same street is as
135. 4:55close as we can get.
136. 4:56>> Absolutely. Surrounded by what, 30 foot
137. 5:00hedge roads.
138. 5:01>> Come on. With everything we've learned,
139. 5:03we watch and wait to choose our moment.
140. 5:07>> I'm Sue Mitchell from BBC News.
141. 5:10>> Um, I investigate people smugglers.
142. 5:12>> Wow.
143. 5:13>> Do the home office know your real
144. 5:15identity? Tuana Jamal?
145. 5:16>> Yes.
146. 5:17>> The Home Office know that you're a
147. 5:18convicted people smuggler.
148. 5:20>> Smuggler?
149. 5:20>> Yeah.
150. 5:21>> I never.
151. 5:22>> Nope.
152. 5:22>> The Tuana Jamal we saw convicted in
153. 5:24France in 2016.
154. 5:26>> Okay.
155. 5:27>> The courts in France estimate you were
156. 5:29the most prolific people smuggler.
157. 5:31they'd come across.
158. 5:32>> Okay.
159. 5:32>> You earned more than a million pounds.
160. 5:34>> What's the proof? What's the proof?
161. 5:36>> Court documents. Here, I can take you
162. 5:38through pages of court documents.
163. 5:40>> Every crime agency in Europe was
164. 5:42searching for you.
165. 5:43>> Okay.
166. 5:44>> Why are you claiming asylum? Why do you
167. 5:46want to be in Britain?
168. 5:47>> I've been here for a long, long time.
169. 5:49>> Yeah. Why? Why do you want to be in this
170. 5:50country?
171. 5:51>> Cuz I was not saved at my country and
172. 5:53then I came to this country.
173. 5:55>> You came to this country via France
174. 5:56where you spent years people smuggling.
175. 5:58You led one of the biggest people
176. 5:59smuggling network.
177. 6:02>> We know your past.
178. 6:04>> What's happened to all the money you
179. 6:05made from your smuggling?
180. 6:06>> Which money?
181. 6:07>> Well, the court estimated you made a
182. 6:09million pounds in one year alone. 1
183. 6:11million pounds in one year alone.
184. 6:14>> Well, if you have proof of that,
185. 6:15>> they had wire taps in the court.
186. 6:18>> If you have any videotapes,
187. 6:21>> photos, I mean uh statements of
188. 6:24anything, bring it. Do whatever you want
189. 6:26to do. And you've not been granted
190. 6:28asylum in this country, have you?
191. 6:29>> So, I'm still waiting.
192. 6:31>> Yeah. And you're here running a
193. 6:32business.
194. 6:32>> No, I'm not running a business. This is
195. 6:33not for my business.
196. 6:34>> Watch you come to work day in day out.
197. 6:36We've watched you maneuver around
198. 6:38Leicester. No, I'm talking to you.
199. 6:39>> Right. Talk to me. I'll be back. I'm not
200. 6:41running away.
201. 6:42>> Right.
202. 6:42>> Just go out, please. One second. Please.
203. 6:45Please. Guys,
204. 6:46>> this is you in France.
205. 6:48>> I don't care. When When was that?
206. 6:50>> 2016. You know when that was
207. 6:51>> 2016? How many years ago? What to do
208. 6:53with me now? So, did you tell the Home
209. 6:56Office about your criminal conviction?
210. 6:58>> If I did something, they all know that.
211. 7:01>> The Home Office know.
212. 7:03>> If I did something, right, they must
213. 7:06know it.
214. 7:07>> Do you think it's right that the people
215. 7:08here in this community are coming into
216. 7:10the shop and not knowing your criminal
217. 7:11past?
218. 7:12>> I'm just here.
219. 7:13>> You've been here day in day out. We
220. 7:15know.
221. 7:16>> No, I'm not working.
222. 7:17>> Right. This your brother is the named
223. 7:19person on [music] these company
224. 7:21accounts.
225. 7:21>> This is not my problem. No. Have you
226. 7:23told the home office about your criminal
227. 7:24convictions? Have you? Just in all
228. 7:26honesty,
229. 7:27>> sweetie. If I did something, anything
230. 7:30wrong.
231. 7:31Everyone knows that. I never did.
232. 7:34Nothing.
233. 7:35>> You're driving around this city without
234. 7:37license.
235. 7:38>> So, what did I hit you?
236. 7:40>> Is that the definition of a good driver?
237. 7:43>> Do you think you can come to Britain and
238. 7:44act like that,
239. 7:45>> darling? I've been here almost 20 years,
240. 7:48>> right? Illegally.
241. 7:49>> Illegally?
242. 7:50>> I've been here a long time.
243. 7:51>> Really? Yeah.
244. 7:52>> See, that's how they keep lying and
245. 7:55right make people of this country to
246. 7:57hate immigrants from their lives.
247. 7:59>> People in this country want people
248. 8:01smugglers who are convicted of really
249. 8:03serious crimes.
250. 8:04>> Oh, who who's doing serious crime?
251. 8:06>> You you are doing really
252. 8:07>> Really? You're doing serious crimes
253. 8:09without any evidence. You just come to
254. 8:10me without without any proof. You just
255. 8:13come to me.
256. 8:13>> We've heard that you think you control
257. 8:15this city. Why would you say that? Why?
258. 8:17>> Why do you Pablo Escobar? Am I Tony
259. 8:20Montana? Am I part of government to
260. 8:22control the city? What are you talking
261. 8:24about? Come on.
262. 8:26>> Because of the money, I guess the
263. 8:27millions of pounds that you enjoy
264. 8:29smuggling.
265. 8:29>> If I h if I had millions, right?
266. 8:32>> Where is your money now?
267. 8:33>> I wouldn't be here.
268. 8:34>> I think you would.
269. 8:34>> Right. If I had millions, right, I
270. 8:37wouldn't be here for even minutes.
271. 8:39>> You're building a chain of businesses
272. 8:40here.
273. 8:41>> Where?
274. 8:41>> In this city. [laughter]
275. 8:43>> We There's two business.
276. 8:45>> I'm just telling you, please go ask
277. 8:47immigration and homies. When did man
278. 8:50come to this country?
279. 8:51>> Yeah, I'm sure. But what name did you
280. 8:52use when you came?
281. 8:53>> Same name.
282. 8:54>> Name,
283. 8:55>> darling. I have one name here.
284. 8:57>> Tell me what name.
285. 8:57>> One name. [music]
286. 8:58>> What name?
287. 8:59>> Go ask them.
288. 9:00>> Tell me.
289. 9:00>> They know my name.
290. 9:02>> You won't give me your name.
291. 9:03>> No, not you. Because I never did nothing
292. 9:05and I don't care.
293. 9:08>> Talla Jamal denied working in the shop
294. 9:10despite us watching him do it for days.
295. 9:13He denied building a chain of businesses
296. 9:15and refused to give his name, saying the
297. 9:17Home Office would know if he'd committed
298. 9:19any offense. The Home Office told us it
299. 9:22has a number of agreements with other
300. 9:24countries to share criminal record
301. 9:25information and the immigration
302. 9:27enforcement is at its highest level in
303. 9:29history.
304. 9:31No one here suspected that a smuggler
305. 9:33who'd made millions was serving them in
306. 9:35their local shop. Now the focus is on
307. 9:38how many others might be hiding behind
308. 9:40businesses in the UK. Sue Mitchell, BBC
309. 9:44News.