International authorities have been hunting the “scorpion” for almost two years. This is how he is nicknamed Europe’s most wanted human traffickerbecause of the photo on his Whatsapp profile: to the century Barzan Majeed, a 38-year-old Iraqi Kurdhas amassed a fortune profiting from the desperation of migrants who have crossed the Channel over the past 10 years.
Sentenced in October 2022 in Belgium to 10 years in prison in absentia and a fine of 968,000 eurosit turns out still at large. But the BBC has been on his trail for some timehas succeeded in what until recently seemed like an impossible mission: after months of research, documentary filmmaker Sue Mitchell and Rob Lawrie, a former soldier who volunteers with migrant communities, they found him and met him.
In Scorpio’s office
Scorpion met them at a shopping mall in Iraq before taking them to his office. For years he and his gang controlled much of the cross-Channel human trafficking, both by boat and by truck. He doesn’t remember Scorpion how many people he brought to Europe: «Maybe a thousand, maybe 10,000. I don’t know, I didn’t count.” Too busy perhaps to count the exorbitant profits they have generated, considering that last year almost 3 thousand people attempted the boat crossing, paying over 7000 euros per person.
Scorpion told the BBC that between 2016 and 2019 he was one of two people in charge of operations in Belgium and France. His associate, Nzar Jabar Mohamad, 35, was convicted in the UK in 2021. Mohamad was essentially the British leg of the gang and Majeed was on the other side and operated in Belgium and the continent, prosecutors made clear some time ago .
«I have managed millions of dollars»
Scorpion he admitted to having handled millions of dollars: «I did that kind of thing. Money, position, passengers, smugglers… I was in the midst of these things.” He denied he is still involved in human traffickingbut the facts seem to contradict this.
There is no sign of any kind of remorse for having favored deadly crossings. Since 2018, more than 70 migrants have died in the English Channel: last month, five people were killed off the coast of France, including a seven-year-old girl.
After all, he also arrived in England as an illegal immigrant, hiding in the back of a lorry while still in his twenties in 2006. The following year, he was refused leave to remain but remained in the UK anyway and ended up in prison for weapons and drugs offences.
One thousand euros for the trip by truck, 9 thousand on the dinghy
It is after his expulsion to Iraq in 2015 that Majeed becomes Scorpion: when he “inherits” the business of human trafficking from his older brother, detained in Belgium.
Investigators believe that between 2016 and 2021 his gang controlled much of the people trafficking between Europe and the UK. Today they offer various packages: almost a thousand euros for traveling by truck, over 9,000 for a seat on a dinghy.
In the BBC podcast series “To Catch a Scorpion”, Sue Mitchell reveals that the flow of migrants to Britain is so strong mainly because smugglers do not tell migrants that they could stay in France or Germany: they want to earn more money by sending them further afield. Sleeve.
It is not at all certain that the risk of being deported to Rwanda introduced by British Prime Minister Sunak will be enough to discourage crossings and give a blow to this business.
It’s also unclear why Scorpion agreed to talk.
