The United Kingdom has imposed financial sanctions on 25 individuals and entities involved in the trafficking of migrants across the English Channel, including Albanian national Bledar Lala, identified as the head of operations of an organized smuggling group in Belgium.
According to the British Foreign Office, this is an important step in efforts to crack down on organised immigration crime and stem the flow of illegal immigration to the United Kingdom.
The sanctioned group includes suppliers of small boats in Asia, gang leaders in the Balkans and North Africa, as well as financial intermediaries who use the informal hawala system to channel payments linked to illegal crossings of the English Channel.
“We are pursuing traffickers wherever they are, from Europe to Asia. Those who enable illegal migration will face real consequences,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Wednesday.
This new sanctions regime, approved just two days ago, gives the British government the right to freeze assets, impose travel bans and block access to the financial system for any person or company involved in aiding illegal migration, without the need for court orders or anti-terrorism laws.
Canal rulers
In the early hours of the morning, as the wind blows along the coast of Belgium, a phone rings inside a black jeep parked in a quiet village near Zeebrugge.
The message is brief. “Delivery in 60 minutes. Boat ready.” Within moments, a van with a group of anxious migrants heads for the coast.
At the head of this covert operation, one of the most sophisticated in migrant trafficking, stands Bledar Lala, the man the British government describes as “one of the main beneficiaries of human disasters.”
The 34-year-old from Hasi i Kukës is one of 25 individuals and entities that were sanctioned under the new British Sanctions Regime for Irregular Immigration and Human Trafficking, an initiative that aims to crack down on human traffickers globally.
Born in 1991, Lala has been identified as the mastermind behind the Belgian operations of a structured criminal group that transports migrants across the English Channel to the United Kingdom.
According to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCDO), Lala organises crossings from Belgium using small boats, accepts payments through illegal money transfer networks (such as the hawala system), and maintains close links to organised crime networks in the Balkans and Northern France.
“From Europe to Asia, we are taking on the traffickers who fuel irregular migration,” said Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
“My message to them is clear. We know who you are and we will bring you to justice,” warned David Lammy.
Bledar Lala, whose name was listed alongside notorious figures such as Mohammed Tetwani, known as the “King of Horgos,” and Alen Basil, a former police translator turned violent trafficker, is suspected of earning millions of euros through migrant trafficking.
British authorities say he has built a strong command structure and directly benefits from payments that pass through informal financial channels.
“shteg.org” did not find any data confirming his apparent wealth in Albania, but learned that his family’s origin is from Hasi i Kukës, and Bledari is the fifth child of the Lala family.
But while the 34-year-old, according to British authorities, operates in the shadows of international crime networks, his surname is not unknown to British authorities.
Just a few weeks ago, the National Crime Agency (NCA) arrested Hazir Lala, 43, at a flat in Walthamstow, North London. Convicted of trafficking and false documents, Hazir had been deported from England twice before, and his story has become one of the typical incidents that prove the lines of illegal human trafficking in the UK.
The eldest son of the Lala family was arrested in 2016 for possession of fake IDs. Haziri had his license revoked for fifteen months and was imprisoned for six months. He was arrested again in September 2019 for immigration-related crimes in Belgium, the very area where Bledari operates, for events that occurred in 2016.
In a trial that took place in his absence, he was convicted in February 2018 and then extradited to Belgium in early 2020. There, he was fined 102,000 euros and sentenced to five years in prison for human trafficking and participation in a criminal organization, but the sentence was suspended and he was released after a few months.
It is unclear how Haziri returned to the UK, but he was arrested again in February 2020 for immigration violations and on 7 April 2020 was made subject to a deportation order that was executed in August of that year.
But, like many others in this powerful criminal network, he managed to infiltrate England again, where he was the subject of an investigation by local law enforcement agencies in recent months.
Jacque Beer, regional director of investigations, described Hazir Lala as a high-risk man.
“Hazir Lala is a convicted human trafficker and has no place in the UK. His presence here posed an unacceptable risk to the public. The fight against organised immigration crime and human trafficking is a priority for the Agency,” the senior officer said.
NCA investigators have been tracking Hazir Lala since July this year. His arrest on Friday 18 July 2025 in Walthamstow followed an intensive operation aimed at bringing down the convicted trafficker and bringing him back to Albania.
Although the family connection between Hazir and Bledar Lala has not been officially confirmed, English authorities suspect close cooperation between the two.
The new sanctions regime does not only target individuals. Weihai Yamar Outdoors Product Co., a Chinese boat manufacturer, was also sanctioned for advertising and selling small boats that are used to knowingly smuggle migrants.
The sanctioned group includes suppliers of small boats in Asia, gang leaders in the Balkans and North Africa, as well as financial intermediaries who use the informal hawala system to channel payments linked to illegal crossings of the English Channel.
According to the British Foreign Office, this is an important step in efforts to crack down on organised immigration crime and stem the flow of illegal immigration to the United Kingdom.
“We are pursuing traffickers wherever they are, from Europe to Asia. Those who enable illegal migration will face real consequences,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Wednesday.
In 2024, over 37,000 migrants crossed the English Channel in small boats, while in 2025, over 22,000 cases have been recorded so far, a 50% increase compared to the same period last year. Dozens of people have lost their lives while trying to cross this dangerous route.
The growing number of migrants arriving in southern England in small boats from northern France has become a major political challenge for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government. The far-right party has capitalised on public discontent by adopting tough anti-immigration policies. According to British Prime Minister Starmer, these gangs are a threat to global security and should be treated as terrorist networks.
In an attempt to stem the flow, Starmer has recently signed deals with France and Germany. One of them involves a “one in, one out” system, where for every migrant returned to France, another can come legally to the UK with documentation and strict security checks.
Germany has also promised to change its legislation to make it a criminal offence to help smuggle migrants to Britain, a move that is expected to give authorities more power to crack down on smugglers’ logistical networks. However, critics warn that the measures are only the first step in a long battle.
“Sanctions without jurisdiction are like a knife without a blade,” says an immigration policy analyst. “As long as there is no deep international cooperation and corruption in the Balkans is not eradicated, figures like Lala will adapt and continue their criminal activities,” one of the security analysts told “shteg.org.”
For now, Bledar Lala remains at large. He has not been arrested, and his whereabouts are unknown. But now that his name has been publicly announced on international sanctions lists, his reign over the English Channel may be coming to an end.
Lindita Çela është një gazetare investigative e shquar, e njohur për raportimet e saj të përpikta dhe të guximshme mbi krimin e organizuar dhe korrupsionin në Shqipëri. Me një karrierë që shtrihet për mbi dy dekada, Çela është konsoliduar si një figurë e rëndësishme në fushën e gazetarisë investigative, duke fituar vlerësime si në nivel kombëtar ashtu edhe ndërkombëtar për punën e saj.