Albanian traffickers are using TikTok to advertise illegal migration routes to the UK, offering packages that include travel, accommodation, and black-market jobs. Starting at £2,500, these deals promise safe crossings and payment only upon arrival, sparking concern over the role of social media in human trafficking.
Albanian traffickers are using TikTok to advertise “all-inclusive” packages for migrants seeking illegal entry into the UK, offering services from transportation to housing and employment upon arrival.
British media outlet GBN News revealed that these packages, starting at £2,500, promise safe crossings, private rental accommodations, and cash-in-hand jobs, with payment required only after migrants reach Dover.
A new frontier in people smuggling
For the first time, traffickers are publicly promoting comprehensive services, GBN reported. Ads use polished marketing techniques reminiscent of TV commercials, targeting Albanians frustrated by limited job opportunities at home.
One TikTok account, “Journey to London,” featured Albanian and UK flags with the slogan: “We offer trips from Albania to England.” Posts boasted “safe journeys” and “competitive prices,” with videos showing traffickers waiting in Dover for their “clients” to arrive by boat.
From boats to bespoke deals
Smugglers cater to diverse needs, offering choices of travel by boat, plane, or truck. In one case, a couple was offered a £12,000 package, including flights to the UK, a rental property in London for £1,000 per month, and low-skill employment.
To enhance credibility, traffickers provided real estate-style photos of properties and urged migrants to travel during the busy Christmas period, exploiting airport chaos to evade scrutiny.
Some packages included falsified passports, with traffickers guaranteeing a 99% success rate for flights.
Organized networks at play
Albanian “migrant agents” act as intermediaries, linking clients with larger criminal networks often led by Kurdish groups managing boat crossings from France.
Authorities have targeted high-profile traffickers like Eglantin Doksani, sentenced to nearly ten years in prison for smuggling hundreds across the English Channel in 2022. Doksani collaborated with Iranian trafficker Hewa Rahimpur, who received an 11-year sentence in Belgium for smuggling 10,000 people.
Government crackdown
The UK Home Office has vowed to dismantle these networks, calling them “despicable” for exploiting vulnerable individuals and spreading false promises on social media. Arrests for illegal working have risen by nearly a third since July, and enforced returns have increased by 25%.
Efforts are underway to remove online ads promoting illegal crossings, with the National Crime Agency and social media platforms working to curb the traffickers’ reach.
