Supplier of capsized boat in De Panne, gets seven years in prison in the Netherlands

The defendant is said to have brought the boat in question to De Panne.

On January 21, 2020, a soggy Afghan rang the bell at an apartment building in the Dynastielaan in De Panne around 5.20 am. The refugee stated that he had ventured to the United Kingdom along with thirteen other transmigrants. However, their boat had capsized.

About two hours earlier, the police in De Panne had already intercepted a suspicious Renault Mégane with a French number plate. The Afghan passengers Samiullah K. (28) and Asif K. (32) could later be linked to the people smuggling thanks to further investigation. On July 29, 2020, the defendants were sentenced to seven and six years in prison respectively. In the Belgian part of the investigation it turned out that the used boat had been brought to De Panne by a vehicle with a Dutch number plate.

In the photo of the ANPR camera, the Dutch Iranian Yahya K. (44) was recognized by a witness behind the wheel of the Toyota Corolla. The same vehicle was caught in our country again on April 9, 2020, transporting life jackets, two outboard motors, a vessel and a fuel tank for motor boats.

Finally, the investigators were able to link K. to nautical material that was used in several other smuggling activities. Yahya K. had to answer for the various facts of human smuggling before the court of Overijssel. The defense asked for an acquittal on all counts. However, the judges in Zwolle sentenced him to seven years in prison. K. was acquitted only for the facts in April 2019 in France. Then 18 Iraqi transmigrants were found on the beach of Audresselles in northern France.