30-04-2025
The Smuggler: New BBC Radio 4 podcast series follows the life of a former British army soldier turned people smuggler
Everyone thinks they know who people smugglers are. They're people from 'somewhere else', far away from the UK. But what if we're wrong, 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.
A new 10-part podcast series for BBC Radio 4 presented by investigative journalist Annabel Deas (Orwell Prize winner 2021), explores how 'Nick', a former soldier in the British Army, became a people smuggler working with organised crime gangs from Albania and Vietnam based in the UK. He has twice been to prison for his crimes. Shadow World: The Smuggler is an intimate portrait of a British people smuggler - hearing from the perpetrator directly, to uncover his motivations, methods and the consequences of risking the lives of desperate people.
The investigation exposes how the smuggling techniques Nick used are still possible today and details the ease with which smugglers can bring migrants into the UK without being caught. Everyone knows about smugglers who bring migrants in on small boats but the methods Nick used are rarely heard about. Across the series, he reveals how he illegally smuggled migrants onto cross channel ferries inside cars and lorries, and how he used private marinas to bring migrants into the UK hidden inside a sailboat.
The investigation also exposes the ease with which foreign nationals with previous criminal records in the UK were able to operate an international smuggling ring – as Nick first becomes involved with an Albanian organised crime gang based near London and then a Vietnamese woman with previous convictions for running cannabis farms in England.
Presenter Annabel Deas says "No one expects to meet a people smuggler, let alone someone as unguarded and open as "Nick", a former British soldier about the same age as me. I thought I knew who people smugglers were and what they did - but I was completely wrong. My investigation takes us deep into the UK's hidden criminal landscape, where a British man became entwined with Albanian and Vietnamese crime gangs who were able to operate with impunity using techniques which the authorities appear powerless to stop."
Commissioning editor Daniel Clarke says "This series is incredibly eye opening, revealing the inner workings of how people smugglers are operating so close to home. At a time when there is so much discussion around the migrant crisis, this series explores the methods that people smugglers are using which don't reach the headlines.'
Shadow World: The Smuggler starts on BBC Radio 4 on Monday 26 May at 1.45pm.
Produced by Hayley Mortimer, sound design by Neil Churchill, the series editor is Matt Willis.
The Smuggler was produced by Long Form Audio. Commissioned by Daniel Clarke and Tracy Williams
Listen to Shadow World on BBC Sounds
About Shadow World
Shadow World is Radio 4's umbrella feed for narrative podcast serials that unfold like real-life detective stories and uncover remarkable things about the UK today. Previous series include Thief at the British Museum, presented by Katie Razzall and The Willpower Detectives, presented by Sue Mitchell.
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