Albanians work with Irish criminal gangs to fly migrants to Dublin – often with fake EU documents – before giving them an Irish taxi driver to smuggle them into Britain by ferry. The backdoor costs migrants around £2,500 per person with an additional £300 to £400 for fake IDs bought in Albania. It costs an average of £5,000 to £5,500 to illegally cross the Channel in a small boat. A gang organizer told an undercover reporter that the trips took place “every day”. “You must get to Dublin. We have the price of £2,500 from Dublin in England. It is 100 percent safe. You have to get a European fake ID so you can get to Dublin easily,” he said.
When challenged “make a lot of noise”
If questioned in Dublin, migrants are advised to “make a lot of noise” and claim asylum. “In 12 hours they will release you. Then the taxi arrives and you can get to England straight away,” said the gang organizer. Government sources said the freedom of movement of Albanians in continental Europe was a “challenge”. The National Crime Agency (NCA) has also previously expressed concern about the use of the Common Travel Area as a backdoor to the UK. Currently, passports are not required for UK and Irish citizens traveling between the two countries. Although airlines and ocean carriers say they require some form of identification, documents are not always checked. Ireland is not in the EU’s Schengen area, but will accept EU ID cards as well as passports. An NCA spokesman said: “Organised immigration crime is a chronic threat, the scale and sophistication of which is constantly evolving. The NCA works to target and disrupt the most damaging organized crime groups at every stage of their activity – in countries of origin, in countries of transit, close to the UK border and those operating within the UK itself. “We are also working with partners, including immigration, policing and law enforcement agencies overseas, to support their investigations.” Home Office and NCA officials will meet senior Albanian police on Tuesday to discuss plans to speedily deport Albanians who enter the UK illegally. The Ministry of Defense (MoD) revealed that 915 migrants arrived in the UK on Saturday, bringing the total number to more than 25,000, double the number of last year. Interior Ministry officials say between 50 and 60 percent of the arrivals are Albanian.
