ALBANIAN gangsters are "always one step ahead" as they smuggle vulnerable people into the UK, an expert has warned.
The ruthless gangs "adapt" and have found new ways to outsmart border officials and sneak migrants across, the insider revealed.
It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to deport increased numbers of illegal Albanian immigrants.
It was revealed a third of the 33,029 migrants who crossed the Channel between January and September last year were Albanian.
Speaking to Piers Morgan this week, the PM promised to "ratchet up" the number of illegals being flown back.
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Mr Sunak said: "I’ll work with the Albanians to put in place a new deal which means for people coming from Albania illegally, we’ll be able to remove them safely back to Albania and that is already happening.
"We’re putting illegal migrants from Albania back on flights and that will ratchet up over the year. ”
In recent years the Government has sought to target the criminals controlling the people-smuggling routes from Albania to the UK.
However, a gangs expert told The Sun crime bosses behind the trade are unlikely to be concerned by Mr Sunak's strong words.
He said: "The smugglers are always ahead of the Government.
"They will change and adapt but continue to get people in."
He explained how the gangs have been smuggling Albanians into the UK since the late 90s.
The source said: "The use of small boats [across the Channel] is being phased out now because its so risky and dangerous. "
'ONE STEP AHEAD'
Identifying the two main routes used by the gangs, he explained: "The gang bosses recruit corrupt lorry drivers in Belgium and France.
"They then bribe them to carry people in their cargo, literally in the back of the lorry.
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"When the lorry arrives in the UK the illegals are dropped off in car parks. Relatives then come and pick them up. "
The source said gangs charge around £18,000 per person and the second route involves the use of fake documentation.
He said: "The gangs have Albanians in the EU with the ability to create fake, fully biometric passports.
"They can also create fake driving licences.
"The gangs charge between £2k and £3k for fake passports. Once you have one of these you just fly to London as a tourist and you are in."
He described the trade as highly lucrative, adding: "It's a multimillion-pound business."
TIK TOK ADS
The source explained how the gangs had embraced social media, advertising their services on platforms such as TikTok.
Last month a sales push by Albanian people smugglers on the platform led to the biggest rush across the Channel in months.
One day, in particular, saw a whopping 442 arrivals in ten boats.
An ad on Tiktok sneered: “They deport 50 but we will send 500.
"Albanians do get in touch.”
Another boasted: “No one will return you back.
“Will keep only one week in the detention centre.
"We have a super price of £4,500 sterling.
"Payment on arrival.”
The expert said that Mr Sunak's latest comments on deporting Albanians had been widely reported in the country.
He said: "In Albania the feeling is that we are being unfairly singled out.
"We know that the problem of people smuggling into the UK involves around 11 other countries, such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
"It's not just Albanians arriving illegally in the UK."
CLAMP DOWN
The source also told The Sun that the people smugglers operated separately to the Albanian gangs who have seized control of the UK's drug trade over the last 20 years.
Last year the National Crime Agency (NCA) smashed an Albanian people smuggling group linked to a North London barbershop.
The NCA investigation found that Gul Wali Jabarkhel, 33, from Cricklewood, used his barbershop in nearby Colindale as a front to commit organised immigration crime.
He was caught attempting to recruit lorry drivers to bring migrants to the UK.
In September 2020 Jabarkhel – who claimed he had links with Albanian criminals abroad - offered a driver £2,500 for each person.
He was one of four Londoners convicted for their roles in the criminal enterprise following a six-week trial at Kingston Crown Court.
Jabarkhel was jailed for 10 years, Baz Mohammed Jabarkhil for five years, Rehan Murudkar for two years and three months and Murudkar Rafique for three-and-a-half years.
Speaking after the sentencing NCA Senior Investigating Officer Chris Hill said: “This group were seeking to profit from the clandestine movement of vulnerable migrants, driven by money and more concerned with detection at the borders than the risks to human life.
“Jabarkhel and his associates are now facing time behind bars. These sentences are a stark reminder to anyone involved in organised immigration crime: you’ll be thoroughly investigated by the NCA and brought before the courts.”
