Human smuggling leader arrested on his way to the boat show and imprisoned
Adam Savas, 45, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison in Belgium for his involvement in selling inflatable boats and engines to migrant smuggling gangs that organize crossings of the canal, and he was arrested in Amsterdam during a maritime equipment fair after a lengthy investigation.
Authorities indicate that Savas earned millions of dollars from supplying equipment used in about half of all canal crossings in 2023, including several fatal incidents. This role placed him at the top of the human smuggling network in Europe and made him one of the most wanted by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).
The National Crime Agency described Savas as the main supplier of boats and engines to the migrant smuggling gangs that organize deadly crossings. Despite claiming to run a legitimate shipping company, he knew that the boats and engines were unseaworthy and that their use could lead to death, and he profited from every crossing, including incidents that ended in the deaths of migrants.
Savas confessed to human trafficking and his membership in an organized crime group in December 2025. He was also fined 400,000 euros, while three other defendants received a combined sentence of 38 years. He was first arrested at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam in November 2024, before being deported to Belgium.
Investigations revealed that Savas was transporting cheap outboard motors from Turkey through Bulgaria and Germany before reaching human traffickers in Belgium and France. In collaboration with Kurdish crime leader Heva Rahimpour, he helped facilitate thousands of small boat crossings to the UK, for about £4,000 per boat and engine set. His arrest was coordinated by Europol, Eurojust, and a joint investigation team, thus ending one of the largest human trafficking operations in Europe.