18 Wednesday November 10 2021 | the times
News
A 41-year-old man educated at a public
school has been arrested in a dawn raid
more than a year after being found with
Albanian migrants in the boot of his car
as he returned from what he claimed
was a romantic break.
A man aged 36 was detained at the
same time at a separate address as part
of co-ordinated raids on suspected
people smugglers. They are alleged to
have posed as a tailoring business to
traffic illegal migrants from Belgium,
hiding people in car boots as they
crossed into the UK.
The older man and a British woman
had been stopped at the border in Oct-
ober last year. He said he was a busi-
nessman and had been educated at a
prominent fee-paying school.
The two told officers that they were a
couple and had been on a short holiday
to Berlin, despite restrictive border con-
trols in place across Europe due to the
pandemic. They were found to have
two Albanians hiding in the boot of
their hire car but claimed to know noth-
ing about them, or how they had man-
aged to stow away.
No action was taken at the time but
they became persons of interest again
in March after an alleged “runner” for
the people smugglers was stopped at
Coquelles, Calais, where Britain oper-
ates joint border controls with France.
After searching the British-registered
car, Border Force officers found two
Albanian citizens in their boot as well as
communication evidence allegedly
linking the driver to the two Britons
who have just been arrested.
Yesterday The Times accompanied
officers from Immigration Enforce-
ment, a unit with the Home Office, as
they forced their way into one of the
men’s homes in Canary Wharf, east
London.
The officers arrested the 41-year-old
man at that address, and the second
man at his home in Notting Hill, west
London, at the same time. The two are
being held on suspicion of facilitatingFormer public schoolboy
held in immigration raid
the unlawful immigration of individ-
uals into the UK, an offence that carries
a maximum sentence of 14 years in
jail. However, the maximum sentence
will be increased to life under the
Nationality and Borders Bill, which
ministers hope will be in law by the
spring.
Tom Pursglove, the immigration min-
ister who accompanied officers on the
raid, said that raising the maximum pen-
alty was essential to ensure the punish-
ment “properly fits the crime”. He added:
“I think is absolutely the right thing to do
because it sends such a strong signal that
this won’t be tolerated.”
Most illegal migration this year has
been facilitated by people smugglers
ferrying migrants across the Channel
in small boats, but stowaways in the
backs of lorries and cars have gradually
increased as coronavirus border con-
trols have begun to relax. More than
21,000 migrants have crossed the
Channel in small boats this year, more
than double the 8,420 that crossed last
year, which was then an annual record.
The Home Office does not keep
equivalent statistics for how many
migrants are found smuggled in the
back of lorries or other vehicles because
they are often dispersed across the
country by the time they are caught.
However, Home Office sources esti-
mate there were about 9,000 migrants
who were smuggled in vehicles this
year.Matt Dathan Home Affairs Editor
Immigration officials broke down a
door during the raid in Canary WharfFashion statement Adam Driver and Lady Gaga, who star in House of Gucci,
directed by Sir Ridley Scott, in Leicester Square last night for its British premiereHENRY NICHOLLS/REUTERS