The National Crime Agency’s (NCA) most wanted man, Adem Savas, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for supplying thousands of boats and engines to people-smuggling gangs operating in the English Channel.
Savas, a 45-year-old Turkish national, was sentenced on 7 January 2026 in a Bruges court after admitting to people smuggling and membership in an organised crime group. In addition to his prison term, he was handed a €400,000 fine. Three co-defendants received combined sentences totalling 38 years.
Investigators identified Savas as the primary equipment supplier for Kurdish crime boss Hewa Rahimpur, who was jailed in 2023. Operating from 2019 until his arrest at Schiphol Airport in November 2024, Savas is believed to have supplied equipment for approximately half of all small boat crossings to the UK in 2023.
The NCA and Belgian authorities evidenced a sophisticated logistics network where Savas:
- Imported cheap “Parsun” outboard engines from China.
- Moved equipment overland from Turkey through Bulgaria and Germany.
- Charged smuggling gangs roughly £4,000 per boat and engine package, netting millions in profit.
The court heard that Savas was fully aware of the lethal risks associated with his equipment. In November 2021, following the deaths of 27 migrants in the Channel, Rahimpur sent Savas news images of the fatal wreck alongside photos of the identical boats Savas had supplied.
“Adem Savas was without doubt the most significant supplier of boats and engines to people smuggling gangs… He pretended to run a legitimate maritime supply company, but in reality, he knew exactly how the equipment he provided would be used,” said NCA Director General of Operations, Rob Jones.