London: Albanian people-smugglers are allegedly helping criminals trying to flee and illegal immigrants trying to enter the UK.

The Daily Mail, a British newspaper, reported on Friday that people smugglers were getting paid twice: for smuggling suspects out of the UK and illegal immigrants into it.

According to reports, Albanian gangs have been hawking escape trips on lorries for "people who have problems and want to leave England as soon as possible" on TikTok.

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A reporter pretended to be someone who wanted to help a relative who needed to leave the UK after being involved in a murder as part of an undercover investigation. According to the source, it would cost £3,000 to smuggle the man out.

The newspaper claims that another TikTok account advertised its ability to smuggle out wanted criminals for £17,500 by posing as reserve truck drivers and processing forged documents on their behalf.  

According to a smuggler who was quoted, the UK regularly uses this technique to smuggle in illegal immigrants.

The people-smuggling gangs were denounced by Tory MPs on Friday for making money by "using the UK like a criminal playground."

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"Our country, once admired for its law and order, is being turned into the Wild West by Albanian criminals who appear to have taken control and can do as they please," said Alp Mehmet of Migration Watch UK. It is utterly despicable.

More than 38 suspected Albanian criminals are being sought by UK police, including nine murderers, two alleged rapists, an alleged £3 million fraudster, a cannabis grower, and a drug dealer, among others.

People smugglers are thought to have assisted such criminals in leaving the country. Another TikTok advertisement offered a way for "people with problems" to leave England for £2,500 by "going to France or Belgium" on the back of a lorry. The TikTok page of a second people-smuggling organisation advertised "inbound and outbound by lorry." Another smuggling organization's third page requested direct messages from 'anyone who wants to return to the EU from England by lorry, people with problems who cannot get an aeroplane' in order to return to the EU by lorry. Guaranteed in full.

The website featured more than 40 posts, many of which encouraged Albanians in France or Belgium to contact them in order to arrange for illegal entry into the UK via lorry or "super comfort" yacht.

One smuggler account, "Travel Agency London," requested £17,500 to pick up a "fugitive killer" from a safe house in Leeds and transport him out of the UK using fictitious travel documents.

According to the smuggler, "We constantly bring people from Belgium to England in the cab of the lorry as a second driver."

Former attorney and Tory MP Gareth Johnson called the newspaper's findings "frightening."

They treat our nation like a criminal playground and think they are above the law, which is extremely concerning, according to Johnson.

"This is the result of having borders that are so permeable.

"It is utterly cynical that it is the same gangs making money to take them both ways if criminals are coming here illegally, but we can hardly be surprised that criminals are escaping when they are wanted."

As many migrants enter the UK through Dover, a Tory MP named Natalie Elphicke stated: "This investigation underlines that the small boat crisis is about serious and organised crime in addition to illegal immigration. The criminal gangs won't be stopped until they realise they can't use small boats to get away.

She explained that in order to prevent small boats from leaving the French coast, France and the UK must cooperate.

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According to The Daily Mail, although TikTok banned people-smuggling accounts, these pages typically quickly reappeared in a similar form after being deleted.

"We have zero tolerance for content that supports human smuggling and trafficking," a TikTok spokesman declared. The questioned videos and accounts have been blocked, and we are still closely collaborating with UK law enforcement and business partners to find and delete this kind of content