- Police in Belgium say there has been a surge in the number of British smugglers
- They are charging up to £5,000 to help illegal immigrants sneak into the UK
- One couple from Liverpool were caught with six Africans in their caravan
British smugglers are charging up to £5,000 to help illegal immigrants sneak into the UK from Belgium, according to reports.
Police in the European country say there has been a surge in the number of culprits from the UK at the port of Zeebrugge – with offenders risking jail terms.
One couple from Liverpool were caught with six Africans in their caravan, according to The Sun.
They claimed to police that they were unaware of how the migrants sneaked in at the port, which is just 70 miles from Calais where the Jungle camp housed thousands of refugees attempting to reach Britain.
But detectives discovered they had been given £5,000 to park in a remote area with the caravan door left open.
The port is just 70 miles from Calais (pictured) where the Jungle camp housed thousands of refugees attempting to reach Britain
A Belgian police insider told the newspaper: ‘We are seeing an increase in the number of British people held at Zeebrugge. It appears many are on benefits and being tempted by the money on offer.
‘They can make £5,000 by leaving the door of their caravan or mobile home open.
‘We have seen several cases and are catching around 250 illegal immigrants a month.’
In October last year it emerged that people smugglers were risking the lives of desperate migrants by hiding them on top of the engines of cars and lorries.
Criminal gangs use the ‘extremely dangerous’ method to sneak people across borders – unconcerned whether or not their victims died.
Criminal gangs use the ‘extremely dangerous’ method to sneak people across borders – unconcerned whether or not their victims died. Pictured is the port of Calais in France which has been a flashpoint for the migrant crisis
Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, said at the time that traffickers were ‘taking advantage of the space available between the engine and the bonnet’ to conceal their human cargo.
It said the ruse was ‘potentially life-endangering’ as it warned that migrant smuggling was now a major business for criminals across Europe.
Asylum seekers were being charged as much as £6,200 each to be crammed by a vehicle’s engine in the hope of evading border guards – despite the risk of death.