The most chilling part is how normal it all looks on paper and that is exactly what makes the secret so hard to shake once you hear it.
A man carries children to a migrant dinghy crossing the English Channel (Image: Getty)
People smugglers are directing migrants to pay for illegal Channel crossings using a network of UK-registered businesses, according to an undercover investigation. One worker told the researcher: “You put your money here. If your friends reach [the UK], you shouldn’t come back.” Staff at a mobile phone shop in Woolwich, south-east London, were secretly filmed saying nearly £3,000 in cash could be deposited with them and forwarded to a smuggler in France once migrants reached the UK.
A smuggler operating from northern France also provided bank account details for two other UK-registered companies — a wholesale business in Newcastle upon Tyne and a car wash in Cambridgeshire — to receive electronic transfers for the crossings. A three-month probe by the BBC found that smugglers appear to be using UK companies’ bank accounts to facilitate small-boat crossings, something a leading expert in criminal finance said he had not seen before.
Tom Keatinge, from the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) security think tank, described the findings as showing a “brazen attitude” by smugglers, adding: “It is a concern that… people feel sufficiently confident they can be out in the open.”
The investigation began in the Dunkirk migrant camp known as “the jungle”. An undercover researcher, posing as a migrant trying to cross with his child, was quickly approached by touts and connected with two smugglers.
One, who called himself Ahmad and said he was Afghan, claimed to have operated for more than five years. He quoted £2,700 for two people and named three UK businesses for payment, including Afg Mobile Repair in Woolwich.
Shop staff, visited on three occasions, explained that money would only be sent to the smuggler after a successful crossing. One worker said: “If your people do not cross… I’ll do it,” while acknowledging the dangers: “You can’t count on boats, you never know, God forbid the boat sinks.”
No cash was handed over. When confronted, the worker denied involvement in people smuggling, insisting it was “only phone shop.” The Newcastle wholesale business strongly rejected any suggestion it had knowingly enabled criminal activity and pledged full cooperation with authorities. The Cambridgeshire car wash did not respond.
Mr Keatinge said the operation showed smugglers were undeterred by government attempts to “smash the gangs” by following the money. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has made disrupting the financial model a priority. Yet figures obtained by the BBC reveal limited success: since 2020, courts identified over £16 million in criminal benefit from 45 convicted people smugglers, but confiscation orders totalled just £2.9 million, with only £1.6 million recovered.
The National Crime Agency said it has around 100 active investigations into top-tier gangs and is devoting more resources than ever. Migration minister Mike Tapp acknowledged the agile nature of the networks and ongoing work on money transfers.
Ahmad denied involvement when confronted. The findings expose how payments for illegal small boat crossings are being routed through UK-registered firms in plain sight.