A PLO Arab has been jailed in my home town of Perth – for people smuggling. And it seems he was rather adept at it.
A Palestinian man labelled as Australia’s number one people-smuggler was today jailed for 12 years by a Perth judge.
Keis Abd Rahim Asfoor was convicted late last year of being the kingpin of a people-smuggling racket that brought as many as 1,700 illegal immigrants to Australia from Indonesia.
After being found guilty of 12 charges by a Perth jury, Judge Shauna Deane sentenced Asfoor to 12 years jail, with a non-parole period of eight years.
Judge Deane said he “brazenly flouted” Australia’s immigration laws by sending “desperate individuals on dangerous journeys” knowing that they would in all likelihood be detained on arrival in Australia.
Asfoor had faced up to 20 years in prison.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP), who tracked and eventually captured the 33-year-old, estimated the operation would have netted him as much as $6.3 million.
I wonder how many of his beneficiaries were Al-Qaida operatives.
