The Story INVESTIGATION: Meet the smuggling kingpins behind the deadly Channel crossings
Apr 13, 2026
Shayma Bakht, a Times reporter who tracked smuggling routes to northern Iraq, visits Rania to uncover who runs Channel crossings. The conversation traces why locals join smuggling networks, the hierarchy from foot soldiers to kingpins, recruitment methods, hawala money flows and the limits of law enforcement. Short on solutions, long on surprising on-the-ground detail and human stories.
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Rania Became A Smuggling Hub Due To Local Collapse
- Rania is a small, picturesque town in Iraqi Kurdistan that has become a hub for people smuggling because of extreme local unemployment and historical trauma.
- Shayma Bakht found men and boys in the town park who said lack of jobs and resentment drive them into lucrative smuggling roles.
Historical Persecution Fuels Migration Pressure
- Iraqi Kurdistan is semi-autonomous with its own government and long history of persecution that fuels migration pressure.
- Shayma Bakht links Saddam-era chemical attacks and decades of unrest to why so many want to leave and thus create smuggling demand.
Smuggling Provides Purpose Beyond Pay
- Some locals join smuggling not just for money but for purpose and identity, including sons of established smugglers.
- Shayma Bakht recounts a man whose father was a smuggler and who said people still choose smuggling despite having jobs.