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An international manhunt has started to find the head of an organised crime group which attempted to smuggle more than 100 migrants to the UK in small boats and lorries.

National Crime Agency investigators are working with partners in Belgium to help track down Iraqi national Barzan Kamal Majeed, nicknamed Scorpion after his WhatsApp avatar, was jailed for 10 years for people smuggling offences in his absence at a court in Bruges last month.

The 36-year-old, who formerly lived in Hucknall, was also fined 968,000 Euros.

A warrant has been issued for his arrest and investigators on both sides of the channel are now appealing for information regarding his whereabouts.

An international manhunt is underway for former Hucknall man Barzan Majeed, known as 'Scorpion' who has been convicted of people smuggling

Majeed moved to the UK in 2013 and lived in the Hucknall area, where he is understood to still have connections.

He was deported from the UK in 2015 to northern Iraq.

The Belgian prosecution followed a joint investigation by the NCA, Belgian, Dutch and French authorities into 31 separate attempts to smuggle migrants into the UK between July 2018 and November 2019 using small boats, lorries and shipping containers.

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Many of the migrants found had Majeed’s number stored in their mobile phone, under the name Scorpion.

The investigation had already resulted in the UK conviction of fellow crime group member Nzar Jabar Mohamad, who was jailed for 10 years in October 2021 after admitting attempting to bring 21 migrants to the UK using lorries and small boats.

Martin Clarke, NCA branch commander, said: “These convictions represent the destruction of the UK and international arms of this organised crime group, which preyed on the desperation of migrants seeking to cross the channel.

“The information we gathered following Mohamad’s arrest was crucial to the success of the Belgian investigation.

“It shows organised immigration crime networks usually cross international boundaries, meaning international cooperation is essential to tackling them.

“I would appeal to anyone, anywhere who has information about where Barzan Kamal Majeed might be to contact us or the Belgian authorities immediately.

"Although he was sentenced in his absence, true justice will only be achieved when he is back on Belgian soil to serve his jail term.”

Anyone with information about Majeed’s whereabouts can contact the NCA control centre on 0370 496 7622.

International manhunt under way for former Hucknall man ‘Scorpion’ jailed for people smuggling