Kurdish gangs drop the cost of a small boat seat from £3,500 to £1,500 amid decline in Albanian incomers to the UK
People smuggling gangs have more than halved small boat prices to their lowest on record in an attempt to counter the collapse in Albanians crossing the Channel.
Kurdish gangs have dropped the price for a seat on a small boat to the UK to just £1,500, the cheapest charge for a cross-Channel journey since the trade first began in 2018. The price is more than half the current standard price of £3,500 and more than a third of the £5,000 average charge last year.
It comes as the number of Albanians crossing the Channel has fallen by 90 per cent after the UK signed a new fast-track deportation deal with Albania in December last year.
Ministers have also ramped up enforcement of illegal working in the UK while police forces have targeted multiple raids at cannabis farming which is dominated by Albanian gangs.