The Mail on Sunday can disclose that ruthless people smugglers are using luxurious boats to transport Albanian migrants into the United Kingdom as part of a “premium” trafficking operation.
Last week, a MoS undercover journalist posed as a migrant and contacted Albanian criminal lords who claim to routinely use boats to transport people over the English Channel and North Sea.
This weekend, one trafficker promised a spot on a boat departing from Belgium for $17,000, while another claimed there was room on a yacht departing from near Calais for $16,000.
The Ministry of the Interior said over the weekend that a leaked military intelligence study indicated that four out of five migrants crossing the Channel in tiny boats this summer come from Albania, a NATO member where there has been no conflict for the last quarter-century.
Now, our research has shown how people traffickers use TikTok to target Albanian migrants, persuading them in a cynical manner not to risk their lives on overcrowded inflatable boats, but rather to choose for “safe” passage on a luxurious yacht.
On a span of more than 100 miles of Dutch coastline, from Vlissingen in the south to Den Helder in the north, people smugglers using yachts to target the United Kingdom have been apprehended, according to Dutch investigators.
The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, a national police agency, said Friday night that the majority of passengers aboard confiscated boats were Albanian citizens.
The Ministry of Security found three people traffickers using TikTok to offer passage on yachts from French, Belgian, and Dutch ports to the United Kingdom last week. One of the traffickers shared photographs of luxury yachts, including one that looked to be in the vicinity of the White Cliffs of Dover. The advertising, which was written in Albanian, advertised a trip to England every two days.
Providing “a trip to England every two days”
When questioned by a reporter masquerading as an Albanian migrant on Wednesday, the trafficker who was providing passage for £16,000 said that there was space on a boat in four days and invited the reporter to meet the gang in Calais.
He emphasized that he was providing a “safe voyage” and added, “We are not in this to take lives.” On the boat, there were 15 individuals.
Another smuggler offered a spot on a yacht for $17,000 per person and instructed our reporter to fly to Brussels, where, according to him, migrants were expected to assemble yesterday.
It is suspected that certain Albanian migrants smuggled into the United Kingdom are compelled to work as “slaves” for criminal organizations. More than 1,300 Albanians are detained in England and Wales, the greatest proportion of all foreign nationals in detention.
A representative for TikTok said that the accounts had been banned.