The ‘reclusive’ dad who ran migrant smuggling ring from garage in footballers’ haven & stored kids in fridge containers

IT’S one of the most exclusive addresses in the North East loved by footballers and TV stars alike.

The upmarket estate of Wynyard Park in Tees Valley has been home to footballing royalty like England boss Kevin Keegan, goal-scoring legend Alan Shearer and ex Newcastle owner Sir John Hall.

With properties of up to £2.3million, its sprawling grounds, set in woodland, have also attracted the super-rich including Dragons’ Den star Duncan Bannatyne.

But beyond the splendour, one resident hid a dark secret behind his family’s front door – as one of Britain’s biggest migrant smugglers.

Mohammed Zada was this month jailed for 20 years in his absence after going on the run, leaving his wife and children behind in the UK.

Bosses at the National Crime Agency – Britain’s version of the FBI – have warned him: “We’ll catch up with you.”

Zada and his family moved into a four-bedroom detached home in Wynyard in 2016 and lived seemingly reclusive lives in their four-bedroom detached, in a street where the average price tops £400,000.

Zada, who drove a £100,000 Range Rover, presented himself as a  legitimate businessman with a car dealing company, but other residents soon became suspicious about the comings and goings at his home.

One neighbour told The Sun: “It became quite obvious early on that there was something peculiar going on at the house.

“It’s a quiet-cul-de-sac with a mix of young families and older people, it’s a sociable place where people look out for each other’s home.

“But when Zada and his family arrived they seemed to avoid contact with anyone and during the day they’d stay in the house with the blinds closed.

“At night it was a very different story. That’s when things started to come alive.”

Zada’s after-dark manoeuvres left neighbours confused with vehicles pulling up in the dead of night.

A near neighbour said: “It was obvious there was something strange going on because vehicles were pulling up at 2am and 3am.

“People were unloading things into the house and there were sightings of people being taken into the house through the garage at the side.

“You couldn’t put your finger on what was happening and I don’t think anyone suspected they could be trafficking victims. You just don’t get that sort of thing happening in places like this.”

Secret criminal

Hiding behind a veneer of respectability, Zada, 43, led a five-strong gang who put the lives of migrants as young as four at risk.

They smuggled 36 mainly Iraqi-Kurds into the UK from mainland Europe, hidden in a campervan and in trucks loaded with furniture, fruit and vegetables and even bicycles from Belgium.

On one occasion they were stopped before they could load young Vietnamese kids onto a refrigerated van.

The National Crime Agency believes Zada and his gang, all from the North East, could have smuggled  “hundreds” of people into the UK.

Officers followed the men between March and June 2017 as they picked up ‘passengers’ in Belgium, France and the Netherlands before hiding them underneath boxes, food and mattresses in vans.

Zada was secretly filmed inspecting a campervan he wanted to use to transport people from France while video footage found on his phone showed him drawing a picture, explaining how migrants should be loaded.

Their operations involved nine children under the age of 16, including a four-year-old.

At Newcastle Crown Court, Judge Christopher Prince said the gang’s plans were “clearly extremely dangerous.”

They treated people like commodities with young children stored in refrigerated lorries, despite what happened in Essex when migrants died

He said there was a risk of people overheating or freezing while trapped in vans, resulting in “terrible tragedies.”

In October 2019, 39 migrants from Vietnam suffered “excruciatingly painful deaths” after suffocating in a container en route from Belgium to Purfleet, Essex.

Shock raids

The first neighbours knew of Zada’s secret life was during police raids in February 2018.

One said: “There were police everywhere and the house was searched from top to bottom.

“It was unnerving not knowing what was going on or what they were suspected of doing.

“Now it’s become clear he was trafficking people. It makes you shudder.

“Thankfully the house has since been sold to another family and the close has returned to normal.

“It’s not a place where criminals usually come to hide out.”

Zada, and his criminal pal Marek Sochanic, 39, of Hartlepool, have both gone on the run.

Following a trial Zada – previously jailed over a tobacco smuggling racket – was found guilty of five counts of conspiring to facilitate breaches of immigration law.

Sochanic’s dad Milan, who helped transport two lots of migrants from Belgium, was prosecuted in France for his part in the scheme. 

Co-defendants Pareiz Abdullah, 41, of Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, and Kahlon Singh, 67, of Stainton, Middlesbrough, were jailed for six and seven years respectively on the same charge. 

Another two members of the callous gang – Bestoon Moslih, 41, of Stockton, and Khaled Mahmud, 50, of Lambeth, London – are yet to be sentenced after pleading guilty at earlier court hearings.

NCA branch commander, Martin Clarke, said the gang charged migrants between £5,000 and £10,000.

He told The Sun: “They sought to exploit the vulnerability and desperation of their victims with no concern for their safety.

“They treated people like commodities with young children stored in refrigerated lorries, despite what happened in Essex when migrants died.

“Some of those involved in Zada’s operation probably handed over every penny they owned.

“In contrast, he was living in a very nice house worth at least half a million and drove a Range Rover worth £100,000.

“He also had a business which was meant to be in trading cars but, while several thousands of pounds went through the books, there was no discernable trade. 

“We know he has contacts in France and Belgium, who helped him organise transport, so we believe he may be in Europe but we will catch him eventually.”

Today residents on Wynyard Park, built around a grand manor house bought by Sir John Hall in 1987, say they’re not worried about him returning to the area.

One said: “He won’t be back around here.

“If he’s been able to smuggle that many people into the UK for as long as he did then he’ll have got himself out and won’t be back.

“They’ll be lucky to ever catch him.”