Two corner shops in Leicestershire have been shut down after a BBC investigation traced their links to a man once described as the “godfather” of French migrant camps, a convicted people smuggler who had been quietly building a life on British high streets.
Twana Jamal, a Kurdish Iraqi national, earned that grim nickname while allegedly orchestrating migrant crossings from northern France. He was convicted of people smuggling offences, yet somehow ended up running retail businesses in the English Midlands, apparently under the radar of authorities.
The BBC’s investigation located Jamal connected to two mini-marts operating in Leicestershire. Following the exposure, both shops were closed. Local residents spoken to after the news broke said they were stunned. One woman who had regularly used one of the shops told reporters she felt “completely shocked” and had no idea about the owner’s background.
It raises uncomfortable questions about how thoroughly the UK screens business owners with serious criminal convictions, particularly those involving organised crime at the level Jamal is alleged to have operated. People smuggling networks don’t just move bodies across water; they’re complex criminal enterprises generating serious money.
Jamal’s story is a striking one. He was a known figure in the camps around Calais and Dunkirk, places that became synonymous with desperate crossings and, too often, tragedy in the Channel. The BBC’s reporters traced him from those French camps all the way to a pair of ordinary-looking shops selling everyday groceries in the East Midlands.
Leicestershire Police and local council officials have not yet confirmed publicly what prompted the closures or whether any further investigation is underway. The Home Office has also been tight-lipped on the specifics.
“The fact that someone of this profile was able to operate businesses openly in the UK is deeply concerning,” one immigration policy researcher noted, speaking to the broader pattern of convicted smugglers slipping through post-conviction oversight.
The case is almost certainly not unique. If Jamal could do it in Leicestershire, it’s fair to ask how many others with similar histories are currently operating businesses across Britain, entirely unchecked.
Whether this prompts a wider review of how convicted serious criminals are monitored after release, and what restrictions apply to their commercial activities, remains to be seen.
