Latest news with #Dunkirk
The Sun
16 hours ago
- Business
- The Sun
The brazen Brit traffickers using astonishing legal loophole to ship in migrants for £12k a head to work on YOUR street
WITH his easy-going charm, former British soldier Nick fitted in with the wealthy yacht owners sipping gin and tonics on their decks at Ramsgate Marina. Having grown up sailing on the Channel with his dad, he was thrilled with the 21ft-long yacht he had recently bought and loved to take it out at night, enjoying the peace and freedom he experienced under the stars. 9 9 9 9 But these trips were fraught with danger because amiable, good-humoured Nick was actually a secret people smuggler on his way to pick up illegal migrants at Dunkirk in France and bring them to the UK. And, in choosing Ramsgate, he was deliberately flouting the law under the very noses of the UK Border Control based there. It's a far cry from the image of hazardous crossings, with migrants packed on to inflatable rafts, that we see in the news. In fact, it was all plain sailing until Nick was eventually rumbled. But he says that the luxury yacht crossings that he pioneered continue to happen every day from swanky marinas around the country. The astonishing revelation comes after 1,194 migrants crossed the Channel on small boats on Saturday, marking the highest daily number of migrant small boat crossings since 2022. Nick (not his real name) reveals his story to investigative journalist Annabel Deas in the 10-part BBC Radio 4 series Shadow World: The Smuggler. 'We all think we know who people smugglers are,' says Annabel. 'They are people from far away countries with different values and ideas. People who can somehow justify making money out of desperate migrants. "At least, that's who I thought they were. But what if some of the people illegally smuggling migrants into the UK are actually from here? British people smugglers with an intimate knowledge of our borders.' The builder turned smuggler Nick had unexpectedly become a people smuggler in 2009 after his work as a self-employed builder dried up and his Albanian employee, Matt, told him that he could make easy money as a white man with a British passport. With a baby on the way, he was desperate and soon discovered how easy it was to take his car on to the ferry at Dover, pick up pre-arranged illegal Albanian emigrants at Dunkirk and hide them in the boot as he drove back on board for the return journey. Once on the ferry, he would wait for people to evacuate the car deck, then go down and release the man from the boot of his vehicle before finding a suitable lorry for the migrant to cut a hole through the tarpaulin and hide inside. At Dover, he sent a picture and registration plate of the lorry to a member of the Albanian gang keeping watch and then drove through passport control in his car. That was his work done. The following of the lorry and getting the immigrant out of it was somebody else's business. Nick would pocket £3,500 for his 'day trip to France". 'It was so easy,' he says. 'I did it many times and made good money.' His girlfriend broke up with him a few months before their baby was born, but by now, Nick was enjoying the lifestyle. However, after several successful runs, his luck ran out when his car was pulled over to be checked at Dunkirk and a migrant was found hidden in the boot. Nick feigned surprise he was there but he served five months in a French prison before being released. It was a relatively short sentence because they were unaware that he was a seasoned people smuggler. 9 While he was in prison, he heard that Matt had also been caught after a hidden migrant unexpectedly jumped out of a lorry after leaving Dover and got his foot caught in the wheel. The police were called and their investigation led to Matt receiving a seven-year prison sentence. Having served his time in France, Nick returned home to England and began trying to get work as a decorator, but within days he was visited by a mysterious man and woman who refused to identify themselves. 'They showed me a long list of ferry bookings from Dunkirk to Dover, all booked under my name and said, 'You're going to help us or we're going to hold you responsible for some of these.' I had a feeling they were from MI5.' So, for a time, in 2015, he acted as an undercover informant, providing details about the workings of the Albanian gang who had employed him, before one day it suddenly ended. 'The guy just said to me, 'Thank you for your help but we don't need it any more.' And that was it.' After Matt was granted early release, in 2017, he contacted Nick about a new operation brokered by a glamorous, middle-aged Vietnamese woman called Lin, who wanted to smuggle in her fellow countrymen to work on the 35 cannabis farms she had set up around the UK. This time Nick would receive £12,000 per migrant – almost four times the previous rate. It was too tempting to turn down. No longer able to book ferry crossings without alerting the authorities, Nick came up with the idea of using a sailing boat. Matt was surprised but was eventually persuaded and they purchased a boat. Nick then set about finding the perfect route, studying tidal charts and maps, and eventually settled on Ramsgate, Kent, where the UK Border Force is based. 'I chose it because I could monitor them,' he explains. 'It's a big marina and difficult to watch everyone and there would be several shifts of observers. "Also, if you pretend that you are one of the wealthy, who can sit around on boats, then you will fit in. And I do that well.' Lucy Moreton from the Union for Borders, Emigration and Customs, representing frontline staff, says: 'We know that small boats in and around the UK don't declare who they are or who they've got on board and don't say where they are going. They don't have to. 'The law doesn't require them to do that. Generally, they are an independent bunch and the vast majority of them are completely law abiding and just want to go out and sail around. "But that does leave a really exploitable loophole for individuals who want to do harm. There could be thriving small boat traffic that we're not actually looking at.' 9 9 9 After months of planning, Nick set sail from Ramsgate at 1am. Directly, it should only take a few hours but he was being careful and headed north for at least an hour in case anyone was watching. Once he was sure of not being followed, he made a sudden U-turn in the middle of the North Sea and began heading south to Dunkirk where four Vietnamese men were waiting for him. Back in Ramsgate, with the four migrants hidden in the cabin, he moored the boat, walked away and drove home. Following the plan, one of the Albanians would go to the marina and, under cover of darkness, collect the migrants. Once they were taken safely to the cannabis farms, Nick would be paid. But on one occasion, when the migrants were collected while it was still light, they were observed by others and the police were contacted, and Nick had to stay away. A surveillance team was called into operation to keep an eye on Nick's movements. Nick managed to carry out his ruse for up to 18 months before being caught. In late summer 2018, officers spotted him sail into view with four Vietnamese men in his boat. He was arrested and charged with conspiracy to facilitate the illegal entry of foreign nationals into the UK and sentenced to eight years in prison. 'What Nick was doing was unprecedented,' says Annabel. 'Smuggling people into the UK using a boat was virtually unheard of in 2016. You could say that Nick paved the way for the small boat crisis that would come later.' Dinghy crisis More than 13,000 people have crossed the English Channel on small boats so far in 2025. Last year, 78 people died attempting to make the journey - a record number. 'Most gangs now use small, over-crowded, inflatable boats to send people across the English Channel, knowing that once they enter British waters, those on board will be intercepted by Border Force and brought safely ashore. The migrants are then placed in hotels while their asylum claims are considered,' says Annabel. 'But what about the people who don't want to be rescued and instead want to creep in unnoticed, like the ones Nick brought in? 'He told me that right now, gangs are still smuggling people into the UK using marinas and yacht clubs around the country.' 'While we were making this series, a luxury yacht, hiding 20 Albanians below deck was intercepted on its way to a marina in Cornwall.' Labour's vow to 'smash the gangs' won't see Channel migrant numbers fall until NEXT YEAR, sources warn Labour's promise to "smash the gangs" will not see Channel migrant numbers fall until at least next year. Measures to break the route "up stream" by tackling smugglers and boat suppliers will take months to trickle down according to law enforcement sources. Ministers have been warned good weather this year is also contributing to a surge in crossings that are on course for a record year. The number of so called "red days" when the calm seas and wind make it perfect to cross have doubled in 2025 so far according to the same point last year. And intelligence monitoring of the Channel has indicated a rise in migrants from the Horn of Africa has seen riskier and larger crossings attempted. Those smugglers are cramming more people into boats, which is also pushing up the numbers. More than 13,000 people have already made the journey this year, putting 2025 on course to have the highest ever number of crossings, since records began in 2017. Government insiders are highly pessimistic about the prospect of reducing numbers this year. And they warn that policy changes and increase in enforcement measures not noticeably pay off until 2026 due to the high numbers of migrants already in France and ready to attempt the perilous journey. Former Border Force chief Tony Smith told the BBC the "vast majority" of the agency's resources were deployed to the Small Boats Operational Command and that he would like to see focus on other marinas. "My preference certainly would be to be able to deploy more widely and to look more across the whole of the UK coastline to identify threats," he said, adding he thought the interviews with Nick would be "really, really helpful as another source of intelligence". Nick insists small marinas are still being used today and adds: 'People are going to hate me because there'll be smuggling going on now. When they hear this, there's going to be an issue. "I regret a lot of it, but I don't know that it would have ever been any different," he says. "I think I was always out for self-destruction anyway."
Telegraph
18 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
The French are the true enemy
Ecoutez! The annual summer surge in Channel crossings is upon us, and with it, some interesting sights and sounds. Stand on the Kent coast and stare out to sea, and you may well spot the RNLI 'taxi service' bringing in another boat load of migrants. Put a shell to your ear and you will hear the sound of the French authorities doing absolutely nothing. As the number of asylum seekers making the crossing reaches almost 1,200 in a single day, our Prime Minister seems unable to do anything more than parrot the same empty words about 'smashing vile people-smuggling gangs.' As a strategy, it is hopelessly misconceived, for as long there's money to be made from the trade, new people traffickers will spring up to fill any gap. How about Sir Keir Starmer declares war on a much easier target – namely the French? Having spent the last month prostrating himself to Brussels in the name of 'resetting' the UK's relationship with the EU, the last thing that Starmer will want is a diplomatic row with our neighbours. However, as the gendarmes stand idly by on the beaches of Dunkirk, watching hundreds of migrants board boats with a giant Gallic shrug, it is time for the Prime Minister to face facts. So far from being our allies, the French are perilously close to becoming the enemy in this fight. During his premiership, Rishi Sunak dramatically increased the amount of money we throw at the French to help us deal with the crisis, announcing a £500 million deal with president Emmanuel Macron. The cash, to be paid over three years, was earmarked for 500 extra French police officers and a new detention centre. Naturally, the French lapped it up as eagerly as onion soup. More than two years later, what is there to show for this colossal investment? The square root of rien. To the surprise of absolutely no-one, the £12.5 million detention centre, which was supposed to be operational by the end of 2026, is already a year behind schedule. Given French labour laws and general lackadaisical attitudes to work, Starmer will be lucky if he is still in Number 10 when it finally opens. In the meantime, the French aren't even doing the small stuff. Gendarmes seem curiously reluctant to disable dinghies even when there are no migrants or people smugglers in the vicinity of the boats. It would take no more than a few minutes to puncture the vessels that are regularly (and very obviously) moored along the River Aa, which leads to the French Channel, yet patrol cars have been filmed gaily driving by. If that is too adventurous, how about erecting some simple fences? Sure, there is a long coastline to patrol, but those familiar with key departure points say physical barriers would make a big difference at certain hotspots. If the Americans can put up more than 1,000 miles of forbidding barbed wire fences, sensors, cameras and other surveillance equipment along the US-Mexico border, surely the French could come up with the odd crash barrier? Yesterday a French politician blamed us for this unholy mess, citing our 'very weak asylum policy.' Eleonore Caroit also suggested that if we want to stop migrants abusing our generosity, we stop rolling out the red carpet in the form of lavish accommodation and benefits. She is absolutely right – but it would be spectacularly helpful if her compatriots also stopped taking us for a ride.
The Independent
2 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Healey slams ‘shocking' scenes of smugglers picking up migrants ‘like a taxi'
The Defence Secretary has pointed the finger at French authorities after 'shocking' images of migrants being picked up by smugglers 'like a taxi' to be brought to the UK. Hundreds of migrants are thought to have crossed the English Channel in small boats on Saturday, with at least six boats spotted leaving beaches in France. French police officers were seen watching as migrants, including children, boarded at a beach in Gravelines, between Calais and Dunkirk, and authorities were then pictured escorting the boats. French authorities said they rescued 184 people and that numerous boat departures were reported. 'Pretty shocking, those scenes yesterday,' John Healey told the Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme on Sky News. 'Truth is, Britain's lost control of its borders over the last five years, and the last government last year left an asylum system in chaos and record levels of immigration.' The Defence Secretary said it is a 'really big problem' that French police are unable to intervene to intercept boats in shallow waters. 'We saw the smugglers launching elsewhere and coming around like a taxi to pick them up,' he added. He said the UK is pressing for the French to put new rules into operation so they can intervene. 'They're not doing it, but, but for the first time for years, for the first time, we've got the level of co-operation needed. 'We've got the agreement that they will change the way they work, and our concentration now is to push them to get that into operation so they can intercept these smugglers and stop these people in the boats, not just on the shore.' The highest number of arrivals recorded on a single day so far this year was 825 on May 21. This year is on course to set a record for Channel crossings, with more than 13,000 people having arrived so far, up 30% on this point last year, according to analysis of the data by the PA news agency. Sir Keir Starmer's Government has pledged to crack down on small boat crossings including with measures targeting smuggling gangs. A Home Office source said: 'We have developed strong co-operation with the French and it is important that they have agreed to disrupt these boats once they're in the water – and not just on the shore. 'This vital step now needs to be operationalised to protect border security and save lives.' A Home Office spokesperson pointed to measures to share intelligence internationally, enhance enforcement operations in northern France and introduce tougher rules in its immigration legislation. 'We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security. 'The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die as long as they pay, and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice. 'That is why this Government has put together a serious plan to take down these networks at every stage.'
The Independent
2 days ago
- General
- The Independent
French authorities criticised as daily migrant arrivals top 1,000
Defence Secretary John Healey has criticised the French authorities for failing to intervene as small boats carrying migrants left beaches near Calais. More than 1,000 people crossed the English Channel in small boats on Saturday, with French police reportedly watching as migrants boarded near Calais and Dunkirk. Healey described the scenes as "shocking" and stated that Britain has "lost control of its borders" over the last five years. Ministers are reportedly pressing the French government to implement an agreement allowing them to intercept the boats, not just prevent departures from the shore. A total of 1,194 people made the journey in 18 boats on Saturday, bringing the year's provisional total to 14,811, a 42 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Healey slams ‘shocking' scenes of smugglers picking up migrants ‘like a taxi'
The Defence Secretary has pointed the finger at French authorities after 'shocking' images of migrants being picked up by smugglers 'like a taxi' to be brought to the UK. Hundreds of migrants are thought to have crossed the English Channel in small boats on Saturday, with at least six boats spotted leaving beaches in France. French police officers were seen watching as migrants, including children, boarded at a beach in Gravelines, between Calais and Dunkirk, and authorities were then pictured escorting the boats. French authorities said they rescued 184 people and that numerous boat departures were reported. 'Pretty shocking, those scenes yesterday,' John Healey told the Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme on Sky News. 'Truth is, Britain's lost control of its borders over the last five years, and the last government last year left an asylum system in chaos and record levels of immigration.' The Defence Secretary said it is a 'really big problem' that French police are unable to intervene to intercept boats in shallow waters. 'We saw the smugglers launching elsewhere and coming around like a taxi to pick them up,' he added. He said the UK is pressing for the French to put new rules into operation so they can intervene. 'They're not doing it, but, but for the first time for years, for the first time, we've got the level of co-operation needed. 'We've got the agreement that they will change the way they work, and our concentration now is to push them to get that into operation so they can intercept these smugglers and stop these people in the boats, not just on the shore.' The highest number of arrivals recorded on a single day so far this year was 825 on May 21. This year is on course to set a record for Channel crossings, with more than 13,000 people having arrived so far, up 30% on this point last year, according to analysis of the data by the PA news agency. Sir Keir Starmer's Government has pledged to crack down on small boat crossings including with measures targeting smuggling gangs. A Home Office source said: 'We have developed strong co-operation with the French and it is important that they have agreed to disrupt these boats once they're in the water – and not just on the shore. 'This vital step now needs to be operationalised to protect border security and save lives.' A Home Office spokesperson pointed to measures to share intelligence internationally, enhance enforcement operations in northern France and introduce tougher rules in its immigration legislation. 'We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security. 'The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die as long as they pay, and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice. 'That is why this Government has put together a serious plan to take down these networks at every stage.'
