Follow a smuggler behind a tragic Atlantic Migrant trip

In January a migrating boat from the North African coast was saved after 14 moving days lost at sea. About 50 people died on the journey, many of whom were lied to by human smugglers who promised safe and legal routes to Europe. BBC Verify has followed one of the responsible human dealers – his activities on three continents documented.

Punjabi Rap music plays about a video with three men in a restaurant on the beach in the capital Nouakchott of Mauritania. One after the other they smile at the camera before they run casually to talk and laugh together.

The three are clearly friends. Two of them, Sofian Ali and Atif Shahzad, are cousins ​​from the Pakistan countryside.

But it is especially the third man who dominates the conversation. He is Fadi Gujjar, a human smuggler.

The video – posted on the Tiktok account of Gujjar – is one of the more than 450 clips analyzed by BBC check that revealing instructions about his activities and his close relationship with the other men.

Within a month after this video posted online, Ali and Shahzad were dead – beaten to the boat trip that was sold to them by Gujjar, who promised a safe route to Europe.

In the meantime, Gujjar flee himself, Wanted by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) For his role in the tragedy.

When BBC Verifie contacted him on a telephone number obtained from survivors, Gujjar repeatedly said in a series of voice notes that his name was “abused” by survivors in connection with the disaster and that he left it all in the hands of Allah.

Fadi Gujjar comes from Jaurah in the Punjab region of Pakistan. In his thirty, his real name is Khawar Hassan – although he also goes through Bishi Gujjar.

Pakistani smugglers The BBC has reported earlier Have the tendency to advertise illegal routes to Europe online.

But Gujjar is careful. His online presence is limited to highly processed videos of his travels and almost all customers that are identified BBC are local for Jaurah. Advertisements for his services seem to be spreading through mouth -to -mouth advertising.

His current location on Facebook is set at Istanbul, Turkey – an oasis for smugglers who want to make money quickly. Videos placed on Tiktok has been placing it in the city since July 2022 and showed the smuggler outside the iconic Hagia Sophia and a Pakistani supermarket.

Another location stands out: Mauritania on the Atlantic coast of West – Africa – the nerve center of his operation and the place where the migrant boat started his dangerous journey.

Since 2023, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says that Mauritania has become a hub for people who smuggle – encouraged by a performance on other routes.

The route is deadly. IOM data show that 170 people – including 14 children – died or missing this year.

Many Pakistanis looking for economic opportunities in Europe are willing to take the risk. Life there is glorified online by migrants who already live on the continent. Smuggers such as Gujjar, whose lucrative company is fed by the ambitions of people, benefit from this.

These migrants take a gamble, use the savings of their families or sell to make the trip. The survivors we spoke on average say they paid Gujjar $ 13,000 (£ 10,000).

There are no direct flights from Pakistan to Mauritania, so some of the migrants have passed by Ethiopia or the Middle East. From there they almost all went to Senegal, before they crossed Mauritania, either over the road or a short boat trip along the Senegal River.

The travel history of Gujjar – obtained by BBC Verify by a source – showed that the smuggler followed a similar route and arrived twice in Senegal in Senegal in 2024.

Several videos also place it in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott from October 2024 – although the date of upload could vary when they were filmed.

Further clips, placed on Tiktok by Ali and Shahzad Place Gujjar in Mauritania already in August 2024. The trio can be seen on the roofs of the sand -colored buildings of Nouakchott and in restaurants in the city – a luxurious other migrants who could not afford themselves.

Videos from their accounts reveal that the men were close by and came from the same village. Their uncle, Ahsan Shahzad Chaudhry, confirmed to BBC that his cousin Sofian Ali was friends with Gujjar.

A survivor called Uzair Bhat said that Gujjar incorrectly promised him safe and legal routes to Europe. He sent BBC proof of funds transferred to a bank account under the real name of Gujjar, Khawar Hassan.

But when Uzair arrived in Mauritania, the smuggler returned.

“He said that going through the air will not work from here. I will send you through a large ship,” Uzair remembered. “Please work together, your visa (to Europe) will not get through.”

Uzair eventually admitted.

In addition to Ali, Shahzad and Uzair, BBC, BBC identified two other migrants who bought trips from Gujjar.

As soon as they arrived in Nouakchott, they say that they were placed in “safe houses” – a term used for buildings tucked away in obscure alleys where migrants are kept illegally by smugglers.

One person who used another agent said that he also remained in safe houses by Gujjar.

BBC Verify confirmed the location of one in an area near the port of Nouakchott, of which survivors say that Gujjar has been visited occasionally.

Survivors BBC verify spoke to say that they left Nouakchott in a small fishing boat in the early hours on January 2. Most of them bought passage of smugglers in their hometown in Pakistan on board.

But the three -day journey changed in a fatal journey of two weeks on drift at sea.

Uzair said that from the day they left the port, the migrants “constantly shot water out of the boat”. Another man, Bilalwal Iqbal, recalled that passengers soon started “drinking sea water and after drinking people became crazy”.

According to the survivors, the crew on board – West – Africans in the service of the smugglers – the Pakistani migrants of food and water fell and defeated them daily.

“I tried to take one of their bottles of water, so they hit me on the head with a rope and the impact just made me fall back,” Iqbal told BBC Verify. “Then they made my thumbs with a hammer. I still have those wounds.”

Sufian Ali and Atif Shahzad died after they were beaten by the crew, their uncle said. He was informed about the circumstances surrounding their death by survivors.

Others died of hunger, dehydration and hypothermia.

Those who are still alive, including the crew, had given up until they saw a much larger fishing vessel in sight. Uzair Bhat jumped into the ocean and swam to help.

The Coast Guard instructed the ship to bring the migrant boat to the port of Dakhla – 60 miles away. According to the IOM, 15 dead bodies were found on board, while 35 people remain missing at sea and death were assumed.

Pakistani authorities have called Gujjar as one of the ten smugglers involved in the tragedy. Some have been arrested, but not Gujjar.

BBC verifies his most recent TIKTOK – messages to Baku, Azerbaijan – although we cannot say with certainty whether he is still there.

Since the news about the salvation broke, his mother and one of his brothers held in Pakistan, accused of collecting money on behalf of Gujjar of people who buy routes to Europe.

BBC Verify has also seen six police reports in Punjab by the families of those on the boat trip. They claim that Gujjar gathered $ 75,000 (£ 56,000) for his role in the January disaster. Three people paid completely, while the remaining three had only paid deposits, the police reports said.

We believe that after the boat disaster in January, Gujjar still facilitated travel to Europe.

Contact by an undercover BBC reporter obtained in March with the help of a telephone number obtained from survivors, Gujjar said that he “knew someone” who would help arrange a trip, but not directly offered to become involved.

Additional reporting by Dilay Yaçin, Javed Sumroo and Joshua Cheetham.