Tuesday 9 August 2022 12:31 AM People traffickers are advertising £4,500 Channel crossing to Albanians on ... trends now
People traffickers are advertising English Channel crossings to Albanians for £4,500 on TikTok - posting videos from inside dinghies saying 'the French won't stop you'.
Leaked figures have shown that Albanians now make up four in ten arrivals from northern France, with 1,075 arriving in the UK aboard dinghies and small boats in the six weeks to July 12.
They made up 37.5 per cent of all migrants trafficked to the UK in small boats by gangs during the period – eclipsing all other nationalities including Afghans, Iranians, Iraqis and Syrians.
And now multiple accounts have been discovered on TikTok selling Channel crossings and promising 'safe passage' - along with advice on using the asylum system.
One such smuggler told an undercover reporter for The Sun: 'The French won’t stop you. On the contrary, they will escort you safely until you reach the UK water border.'
They were then told to contact a solicitor upon arrival in the UK who would help to concoct a 'good story'.
One of the TikTok accounts posted a video offering safe passage from Calais, northern France, for £5,000
Another post on one of the accounts offers a Channel crossing from Dunkirk via a small boat or dinghy
Multiple accounts have been discovered on TikTok selling Channel crossings and promising 'safe passage'
The accounts include footage taken from aboard dinghies and small boats making the dangerous crossing
Three accounts were found advertising the crossings, with one bragging about how the French let migrants through
The smuggler added: 'I can give you a number of a solicitor I have used for my relatives. They have managed to secure documentation (permission to stay) for half the Albanians in London.'
He continued: 'Three months ago one boy was kept in detention for a month, then he was freed by his solicitor.
'All others I have talked to after they arrived were sent to hotels,
