A human trafficker will be removed from the UK for a third time following an investigation to trace him.

Hazir Lala, 39, in Walthamstow was located by the National Crime Agency on Friday (November 26).

The Albanian national has a long list of previous convictions for various crimes.

In September 2019, he was arrested for organised immigration crime offense, which happened in Belgium in 2016, he was convicted in his absence in February 2018.

His extradition was ordered, he was arrested again and was returned to Belgium at the start of 2020 where he was sentenced for human trafficking and participating in a criminal organisation.

Despite being given a five-year sentence, it was suspended and he was released after a few months. He was also ordered to pay a fine of 102,000 Euros but 51,000 was suspended.

Following his release, Lala quickly returned to the UK again and was arrested on February 20 last year for overstaying.

He was then deported back to Albania on August 19 last year, but he managed to slip into the UK again.

NCA officers were hunting Lala since July this year and he was finally arrested on the Friday.

NCA regional head of investigations Jacque Beer said: “Hazir Lala is a convicted human trafficker and has no place in the UK, his presence here presented an unacceptable risk to the public.

“Tackling organised immigration crime and human trafficking is a priority for the Agency.

“We saw with last week’s tragedy in the Channel, the horrendous dangers of organised immigration crime which the Agency and its partners are doing everything possible to combat.”

His earliest conviction in the UK was in April 2016, for being drunk driving, driving without insurance and possession of false ID.

For these offences he was disqualified from driving 15 months and jailed for six months.