Back at the cafe, Khal is apparently satisfied that Hamza is legitimate and starts talking money.
His preference is that Hamza takes the “package” deal which will cost €15,000 (£12,500).
That involves collecting the boat near Calais, along with an engine, fuel, pump and 60 lifejackets – more than Hamza has said he needs, but that is the blanket offer, and one that would more likely be made to a fellow smuggler directly organising the crossings in France.
Those smugglers’ profits are potentially “extraordinary” if you assume adults are being charged about €2,000 (£1,660) for a single trip with dozens of people on board – according to Global Initiative.
If a deal is agreed now, Khal claims he could get a boat to a location that is just 200m (655ft) from the French shoreline, by as soon as tomorrow.
Khal and Sahar also refer to a “new crossing point”, suggesting they have found a place less under the eye of the French authorities, though they don’t reveal its location.
There is a second, cheaper option, which Hamza has been pitching for all along.
For about €8,000 (£6,670) Hamza could pick up the boat himself, here at a warehouse in Essen, and drive it to northern France independently.
If you get caught, the smugglers tell him, we are not responsible.
Conversation turns to how Hamza would pay the gang, once he has decided what to do.
Khal wants the cash paid in Turkey, because “all the stuff” comes from there.
The money, he suggests, can be deposited through the Hawala system – a payment method that avoids formal banking and instead relies on a network of agents to deliver cash across borders.
Later, Hamza is sent an account name on WhatsApp.
Other messages and voice notes in Arabic, also sent after the café meeting, include Sahar describing brands of outboard motors. He “loves” Mercury ones, he says, although “if there is Yamaha, I prefer Yamaha”.
He talks about how they can “deliver and bury” the gear, implying it can be hidden underground near a crossing point, with Boulogne a better option because, “Calais, it’s hard”.