A people smuggler in France has described in shocking detail how for £7,000 he can get any migrant across the Channel into the UK.
The trafficker known only as ‘Farooq’ boasted of the ease with which he evade border security whilst talking to an undercover reporter posing as an Indian migrant trying get into Britain.
Farooq said once migrants reach UK waters they are picked up by police, held for 24 hours then put into a hotel where they can escape.
As part of an undercover investigation by LBC Radio, the trafficker even claimed that French police help with the smuggling operation by warning him to go back to shore when border officers are patrolling the sea.
Speaking from a tent in a refugee camp in northern France, Farooq said: ‘I take one person for you for £7,000. By Boat.
He said the stowaway would come to the makeshift camp in woods where he must sleep rough until all aspects of the journey has been prepared he will cross the channel with Kurdish smugglers.
The boats are prepared by members of his gang. After being pointed in the direction of the British coastline, they are told not to stop until they cross into UK waters where they will be rescued.
He said: ‘He come here. I will send him to the car. Kurdish people take him. When everything is ready, these people going, and put in the boat, and up to two hours in UK.’
Asked how many people he sends per night, Farooq replies: ‘Every time 30, 40, 30, 40, 50. Last night people pass. I think it’s 20, 25 people.
Farooq claims that the migrants will be rescued by the UK police as soon as they reach British waters.
‘Do you understand this game?’ he says. ‘The boat one.’
Getting out a map, he says: ‘This is the water. Boat going here. And this is border in UK. When it’s crossed the border of the UK, when it enters the UK, it’s taken, and straight away, police take it and bring to the police station for 24 hours. After they will send to the hotel.
‘Then it’s finished. Anywhere going, no problem. Now lots of people pass, maybe 400.’
The majority of the money for the crossings changes hands in the UK, with a deposit of between £500 and £1000 going straight to Farooq, who has bank accounts in the UK, France and Pakistan.
The undercover team were given three UK address to pay a deposit to secure the crossing; a restaurant and an off-licence in west London and a newsagent in Birmingham.
As he explained the route from Calais or Dunkirk, Farooq claimed French police are helping them smuggle people across the Channel.
‘When you’re going to the beach, French police come. They say, ‘Today not possible. Today go, next day, come.
‘Sometimes when people are going, the French police come with him. When he’s crossed the border they just say ‘bye bye’.
French Police is no problem. Police in France just give you the way. Just go, go,go.
‘They are helping. No jail, no arrest, nothing.’
MailOnline has previously told how greedy people smugglers like Farooq are exploiting the ‘perfect storm’ of Brexit, refugee camps closing and the threat of a freezing winter to charge migrants as much as possible to cross the Channel.
Farooq said cost for a single person was £7,000 – but he would provide discounts for families and children.
Traffickers operating along the coast of northern France – where around 2,000 people are camped – are hiking up prices and telling families they must leave France for the UK now because further delays will make the journey impossible.
While prices to cross the Channel are usually £3,000 to £4,000 per person, that figure has risen as record numbers of migrants are flocking to the UK to beat the Brexit deadline.
The last official refuge – a former sports field and gym, at Grande-Synthe near Dunkirk, that was home to 1,200 men, women and children – was torn down earlier this month in a huge police operation.
Last night the Home Office said they had launched an investigation into claims highlighted by the undercover operation.
A Homes Office spokesman said: ‘The organized crime groups behind the illegal attempts to cross the Channel are putting the lives of vulnerable people in serious danger for their own financial gain.
‘We are determined to put a stop to this illegal activity and last week alone Immigration Enforcement and the National Crime Agency made 23 arrests as part of a series of on-going investigations into suspected people smuggling.’
To hear more about LBC’s undercover investigation, tune in to Nick Ferrari at Breakfast (weekdays 7am to 10am) on LBC, available nationwide on DAB digital radio/TV and the LBC and Global Player apps.