People-smugglers launch £11,000 premium service trips for migrants to get into Britain
PEOPLE-smugglers have launched premium service trips for migrants to get into Britain — promising they will skip a stay in hell-hole processing centres.
The Albanian traffickers are now offering an £11,000-a- person package that includes a 40-minute speedboat ride from Belgium with no risk of being incarcerated on arrival.
They also promise access to lawyers who will help them avoid the camps or fast-track deportation.
One source in touch with the gangs told The Sun: “The migrants’ main concern now is finding themselves herded into terrible camps and being unable to leave.
“But the gangs are now offering a premium service which they say avoids that — and some people are willing to pay the price.”
Traffickers usually charge between £3,500 and £5,000 to ferry Albanians across the Channel — where waiting Border Force officers herd them to processing centres.
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But the premium service is a response to growing alarm at reports of appalling conditions at the overcrowded camps such as Manston in Ramsgate, Kent.
They also want to cash in before winter closes in and makes the Channel crossing even more dangerous. One ad on TikTok says: “Journey on speedboat from Belgium for 40 minutes to the UK. The best price tomorrow and after tomorrow.
“Do not put your life in danger on boat. We secure safe crossing, not to stay any day in camp.”
A Sun investigator messaged one of the gangs asking for details and was told: “You do not go to a detention centre. One hour journey. Price £11,000 per person.”
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Asked if people had already used the route, the trafficker responded: “100 per cent. On Thursday and Friday last week we sent people.”
Another TikTok ad offered a crossing from an EU country to the UK, with biometric passport and an escort, for £15,000.
The lucrative trade is made easy as Albanians are allowed to stay visa-free for up to 90 days in any Schengen area EU nation, such as Belgium.
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The flow of migrants means a record 40,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has called it “an invasion”.