Zada, known to those he tried to smuggle as Amanj Zaman, sometimes used videos of himself being pleased with those he had previously helped, the NCA said.

One showed a group of men on a boat in Italy praising him.

Another, believed to have been recorded in Iraq in 2021, showed Zada ​​at a party with musicians singing a song in Kurdish, praising him as “the best smuggler”, saying that “all the other smugglers they learned from him” as he throws money into money. and fires a gun in the air in celebration.

Back in the UK, NCA officers were able to record conversations Zada ​​had with other smugglers, discussing migrant movements, locations and successful crossings.

Zada, of Stefano Road, was finally arrested in May and his phone was confiscated.

Analysis showed it was linked to a number of social media accounts used to post material and the phone numbers listed on them.

He also had direct contact with some of the migrants who had come to Britain in 2023.