A Sky News investigation has revealed how an Albanian smuggler is passing migrants through the Channel Tunnel using forged documents.
According to the investigation, the smuggler organizes the entry of an immigrant into London in exchange for a payment of 24 thousand pounds.
In exchange for this amount, the smuggler transports the immigrant in the passenger seat of a luxury Range Rover vehicle, worth around 100 thousand pounds.
A former Border Force officer, who worked for years in border control in Britain and Europe , has said that staff at border crossings often felt "overwhelmed" due to staff shortages and the high influx of travellers.
According to him, the pressure to avoid delays in traffic could affect border controls.
"If traffic is heavy and there are long queues, employees feel under pressure to speed up procedures. In these conditions, there is always a risk that someone will escape the controls, although we did the best we could with the technology we had at our disposal," said the former Border Force official.
Meanwhile, another Home Office source , involved in immigration and asylum issues, stated that it is no surprise that the Channel Tunnel has become a target for smuggling networks.
"We have immigration cases where people admit to entering Britain through the Channel Tunnel using false passports. Some of them say their documents were checked by border authorities and yet they were allowed to enter," he said.
The former border official stated that following the accelerated agreement between Britain and Albania on the return of illegal immigrants, an increase in attempts to enter the United Kingdom with forged documents was observed.
He stressed that border technology is advanced, but criminal networks are becoming increasingly creative in ways to avoid controls, using stolen documents or identities of people who physically resemble them.
The Sky News investigation also reveals that many migrants, once they arrive in Britain, end up being exploited by criminal groups.
According to Sky News sources, many Albanian migrants are forced to work to repay the debt to the smugglers who paid for the trip.
Victims often become involved in criminal activities, including drug cultivation and distribution, and in many cases, the debt never ends and the migrants remain under the control of criminal gangs.
Security expert Dr. Andi Hoxhaj told Sky News that the high demand for drugs in Britain continues to fuel the activity of criminal groups.
He added that after Brexit, cooperation between British and European authorities has become slower, making it more difficult to identify people involved in organized crime.
On the other hand, the British Home Office has defended the border control system.
In a statement, the Ministry stated that the Channel Tunnel has advanced controls and modern technology, while cases of illegal entry through this route are very rare.
According to the Ministry, the number of asylum applications from people who entered illegally by cars or trucks has fallen by 25% over the last year./ SkyNews