People smugglers use migrants to grow and deliver drugs

A Sky News investigation has uncovered a disturbing link between people smuggling and the UK's illegal drugs trade. The investigation found that people smugglers are using migrants to grow and deliver drugs as payment for their smuggling services, a system that is fuelling the country's drugs industry while mocking border security.

Undercover reporters posed as potential customers trying to bring a fictitious cousin to Britain illegally. They met a people smuggler in London who demanded £24,000 for the journey. When the undercover customer said he only had half the money, the smuggler offered a deal: the cousin could pay off the remaining £12,000 by selling drugs on the streets of Britain. The smuggler said the cousin could earn £2,000 a week delivering pure cocaine worth around £26,000 a kilo. He also boasted about using the Channel Tunnel with a fake British passport, travelling in comfort in a luxury car driven by a Turkish woman he claimed had been transporting people on the same route for four years, including children. He said she had never been stopped at the UK border, adding: "UK border is bullshit."

The investigation also heard from a migrant named Benny, whose voice was re-voiced to protect his identity. Benny said he was smuggled to Britain from France hidden in the driver's cab of a lorry. He said Albanians who come by lorry have to do illegal jobs, and he chose drug dealing because he could make money faster. He later switched to growing cannabis, saying he was terrified of the police and of criminal gangs coming with machetes to steal the crop. Benny said he paid off his debts and then made more than £140,000 for himself before he stopped, but lost a lot of money gambling in casinos.

Smugglers were also found openly touting their services on social media, advertising transport links to reach Britain illegally. When asked about payment, one wrote: "It will be better and safer here in the UK, in London."

The Home Office responded to the investigation, saying it is "relentless in our disruptions of criminal activity" and that since the general election it has convicted nearly 200 people for people smuggling, with sentences totalling over 340 years. Anna Turley, Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum, said the government has ramped up its response, including a returns agreement with Albania that has seen over 2,000 people returned in the last year. She said the government is doubling investment in immigration enforcement by 2029 and cracking down on illegal working, with record levels of arrests more than doubled since the last election. She warned: "Don't think that you can come here and disappear into the illegal market, because we will find you and we will arrest you."