The “withdrawn” father who ran a migrant smuggling ring from the garage in the footballer’s paradise and kept children in refrigerated containers

It is one of the most exclusive addresses in the North East, popular with footballers and television stars alike.

The upmarket Wynyard Park estate in the Tees Valley has been home to football royalty such as England manager Kevin Keegan, goalscoring legend Alan Shearer and former Newcastle owner Sir John Hall.

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

But beyond this splendor, one resident was hiding a dark secret behind his family’s front door – as one of Britain’s biggest migrant smugglers.

Mohammed Zada ​​was sentenced in his absence this month to 20 years in prison after he went on the run, leaving his wife and children behind in the United Kingdom.

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

Zada and his family moved into a four-bedroom family home in Wynyard in 2016, seemingly living in seclusion in their four-bedroom family home on a street where the average price exceeds £400,000.

Zada, who drove a £100,000 Range Rover, posed as a serious businessman from a car dealership, but other residents soon became suspicious of the goings-on at his home.

A neighbor told The Sun: “It became clear early on that there was something strange going on in 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 after each other’s home.

“But when Zada ​​and his family arrived, they appeared to avoid contact with anyone and stayed indoors during the day with the blinds closed.

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

Zada’s maneuvers after dark left neighbors confused, as if vehicles were driving up in the middle of the night.

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

“People were unloading things into the house and people were seen being brought into the house through the garage at the side.

“It was impossible to say exactly what was happening and I don’t think anyone suspected that they might be victims of human trafficking. Things like that just don’t happen in places like that.”

Secret criminal

Hiding behind a façade of respectability, 43-year-old Zada ​​led a five-man gang who put the lives of migrants as young as four at risk.

They smuggled 36 mostly Iraqi Kurds from mainland Europe to Britain, hidden in a motorhome and in trucks loaded with furniture, fruit and vegetables and even bicycles from Belgium.

At one point they were stopped before they could load young Vietnamese children into a refrigerated truck.

The National Crime Agency believes Zada ​​and his gang, all from the north-east, may have smuggled “hundreds” of people into the UK.

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

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

Nine children under the age of 16 were involved in the operations, including a four-year-old.

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

They treated people like commodities and stored small children in refrigerated trucks, regardless of what happened in Essex when migrants died

He said there was a risk of people in vans overheating or freezing to death, which could lead to “terrible tragedies”.

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

Shock raids

The first neighbors found out about Zada’s secret life during police raids in February 2018.

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

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

“It has now become clear that he was trafficking in human beings. It makes you shudder.

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

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

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Zada and his criminal pal Marek Sochanic, 39, from Hartlepool, are both on the run.

After a trial, Zada, previously imprisoned for tobacco smuggling, was found guilty of five counts of conspiracy to aid and abet immigration violations.

Sochanic’s father Milan, who helped transport two groups of migrants from Belgium, was prosecuted in France for his role in the plan.

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 for the same charge.

Two other members of the callous gang – Bestoon Moslih, 41, from Stockton, and Khaled Mahmud, 50, from Lambeth, London – are yet to be sentenced after pleading guilty at previous 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 without concern for their safety.

“They treated people like commodities and stored small children in refrigerated trucks, regardless of what happened in Essex when migrants died.

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

“In contrast, he lived 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 supposed to be dealing in cars, but despite having several thousand pounds on the books there was no apparent dealing.

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

Today residents of Wynyard Park, built around a large mansion bought by Sir John Hall in 1987, say they are not worried about his return to the area.

One said: “He won’t be here again.

“If he has managed to smuggle so many people into Britain for so long, then he has run away himself and will not be coming back.

“You’ll be lucky to ever catch him.”