A people smuggler involved in the smuggling of 198 vulnerable people has been handed a 12 year jail sentence by the District Court of Western Australia.

Sayed Abbas was extradited from Indonesia in August 2015 and on 31 May 2017 was found guilty of three counts of people smuggling in relation to three separate ventures between March 2009 and August 2011.

This result demonstrates the determination of the Turnbull Government and our regional partners to investigate, arrest and prosecute people smugglers for their crimes. 

People smugglers specialise in spreading misinformation, preying on vulnerable people, taking their money and putting them in unsafe boats that are unfit for long journeys on the open ocean. The terrible consequences of this evil trade are well known; between 2008 and 2013 at least 1,200 men, women and children drowned while attempting to reach Australia illegally.

Australia's implementation of Operation Sovereign Borders undermined the business model of people smugglers and stopped the deaths at sea.

Yet people smugglers remain active in our region, looking for opportunities to re-start their trade. They have no interest in the safety of the people they prey on; they only want their money.

This Government has zero tolerance for people smuggling and we will be relentless in our pursuit of criminals who organise people smuggling ventures.

Any attempt to reach Australia illegally by boat will fail and settlement in Australia will never be an option. There are no exceptions.

This outcome is the result of effective collaboration between the Department of Home Affairs, Attorney-General's Department, the Australian Federal Police, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights, the Indonesian National Police and the Indonesian Attorney-General's Office.

Abbas was sentenced to 12 years jail with a non-parole period of seven years and three months, backdated to May 2012.