Albanian people smugglers advertise new route to the UK on TikTok
Albanian people smugglers advertise new route to the UK on TikTok with icons and emojis of lorries, ferries and the London Eye
- The new route will take migrants from Santander in Spain to Portsmouth
Albanian people smugglers are advertising a new migrant route from Spain to the UK on TikTok, using emojis of lorries, ferries and images of the London Eye to advertise the crossing.
Gangs are offering to smuggle people in lorries from Santander on the north coast of Spain into Portsmouth for £14,000 per person via ferry before taking a Eurostar from northern France.
People smugglers usually charge between £3,000 and £5,000 to cross the Channel in small boats, but the new route is advertised as being less dangerous and avoids improved border security at some of the most prolific ports.
This means migrants are less likely to be identified and deported back to the country they travelled from.
The brazen TikTok videos come as six people died in an overcrowded dinghy heading from the shores of France to the UK on Saturday morning.
The new route being advertised on TikTok will take migrants from Santander in Spain to Portsmouth
It is not the first time TikTok has been used to advertise migrant routes. Last month the Mail revealed people smugglers are TikTok to help illegal immigrants make successful asylum claims on arrival
TikTok has reportedly removed all the videos and closed down the accounts that were selling the new route.
‘If they arrive on a small boat, they know that they are likely to be sent back to Albania,’ an immigration investigator told the Telegraph.
‘They know their asylum claim will be refused so they don’t register with the Home Office. In order to pay the huge sum of money for getting into the UK, many getting involved in cannabis farms.’
It comes as the number of illegal migrants trying to get into the UK through Portsmouth and Poole has increased, according to the UK and immigration watchdog.
The immigration investigator added that migrant detection through Portsmouth and Poole has increased following improvements to security at ports in France such as Calais, Coquelles and Dunkirk.
It is not the first time people smugglers have tried to lure in clients on social media, with dozens of adverts remaining online on Sunday.
The six migrants who had died on Saturday had been from Afghanistan, hoping to reach the UK in a boat that had almost 70 people on board.
Despite the tragedy, people smugglers continued to encourage migrants to board the boat, with one telling an undercover Mail on Sunday reporter, that they would not suffer the horrendous fate of those who died if we paid £3,000 for a journey from Calais to Dover leaving at dusk.
Over the weekend, six migrants from Afghanistan died after a small boat bringing them to the UK capsized in the Channel
When the reporter raised concerns, the criminal said: ‘Not all of them drowned. We make journeys every day, most of them successful. The sea will be super calm. Come now.’
Last month the Mail revealed the extent to which people smugglers are TikTok to help illegal immigrants make successful asylum claims on arrival – offering ‘deluxe packages’.
One gang offered a £12,000 all-inclusive ‘Asylum Express’ route to the UK which included connecting new arrivals to a UK lawyer who would coach them on what to say to the police and Home Office when claiming refugee status.
It included bus travel from France to Dover or bus transport from Holland to Dublin, before entering the UK through Northern Ireland.
They also provide European passports and ID cards, either convincing fakes or genuine documents sourced to closely resemble the illegal immigrant.
Last month saw the highest average number of migrants per boat ever at 50, but August is set to eclipse that.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping small boat crossings one of his five priorities
The UK is continuing to grapple with the issue of small boats crossing the Channel, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisting it remains one of his top five priorities.
Leaked documents, seen by the Mail last night, showed that Brussels ahs ruled out a deal that would allow migrants to be sent back to France.
Official records indicate the refusal came from one of European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s most trusted aides.
German politician Bjoern Siebert told senior British officials the bloc will refuse to consider signing a post-Brexit ‘returns agreement’.
Mr Siebert, who is Mrs von der Leyen’s head of cabinet, delivered the defiant rejection at a face-to-face meeting with the Cabinet Office’s National Security Adviser Sir Tim Barrow earlier this year, the papers show.
It means Britain will remain unable to return small boat migrants to France for the foreseeable future.
MailOnline has contacted TikTok.
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