
Albanian gangs have launched an £18,000 'women and children'-only smuggling service to reunite men who have already sneaked into the UK with relatives.
Traffickers arrange genuine EU passports issued by corrupt Italian officials that use the name of a real person but with the illegal immigrant's photo, an undercover investigation by the Daily Mail has revealed.
They then hire drivers to take customers to the UK using these seemingly legitimate travel documents, either via the Channel Tunnel or ferries from France.
The illegal operation caters to the growing market of Albanian men who have already arrived in the UK illegally.
They have usually arrived via more dangerous routes, such as small boats or trucks, and now want to bring their families to join them, but with less risk.
An ad offering the 'family service' was posted on one of the gang's two TikTok accounts on February 25, writing: ' Taxi France to UK, for families and girls only. Who is interested? 100 percent safe. "
A Daily Mail reporter, posing as an Albanian woman, messaged the group and was told the price was ' £18,000 '. The reporter was then given a UK phone number for a man believed to be the leader of the gang.
Women using the service must provide the name of a family member already in the UK, who the London-based gang boss visits before the trip to check there is money to pay.
They must surrender all belongings, including their Albanian passports.
To show he was sincere, the alleged gang boss sent a video showing the driver of a white Fiat 500 saying goodbye to a woman and child he had just left. He explained that she was the wife of his friend he had smuggled.
He also sent screenshots of chats with previous customers en route to the UK.
The DailyMail expose comes after the European border agency reported a rise in passport fraud at external borders.
And it follows damning comments from former border chief David Neal, who accused the Home Office of being "dysfunctional" and warned the department needed far-reaching reform.