Hewa Rahimpur, 30, who was originally from Iran, ran the network from his home in Ilford, east London, from where he sourced small boats from Turkey and had them delivered to Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, the NCA said.

His network would then ship them to a northern French coast to smuggle migrants across the Channel to the UK.

The issue of asylum seekers arriving without permission in the UK is a major political issue, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s promise to “stop the boats” one of his priorities and the government involved in a legal dispute on whether it can send migrants to Rwanda.

Last year, a record 45,755 people arrived across the Channel and more than 25,000 have been detected this year.

The NCA said Rahimpur’s arrest triggered action and arrests across Europe, with 60 inflatable boats and hundreds of life jackets seized in Germany.

A UK court ordered his extradition to Belgium where prosecutors said his network had charged migrants between £3,000 and £6,000 to make the crossing.

Another 19 people were also convicted and given jail terms between 30 months and eight years.

“Hewa Rahimpur’s network was, at the time of his arrest, one of the most prolific criminal groups involved in small boat crossings, playing a part in transporting thousands of migrants to the UK,” said the NCA’s deputy director of investigations Craig Turner.