BBC undercover investigators were told the money would be held by the business until the migrants had successfully crossed the Channel to England. If they did not cross, the businesses were reportedly told by the people smugglers to hand the money back.
The cash-for-crossings agreements were orchestrated by a people smuggler calling himself Ahmad, who also provided details of companies in Europe where payments could be made in cash, including a car wash in Antwerp and a restaurant in Paris.
In France, Ahmad, who spoke Farsi and said he was from Afghanistan, told an undercover BBC researcher they could pay using one of three UK businesses, including a phone shop called Afg Mobile Repair in Woolwich, south-east London.
The crossing would cost £2,700 for two people, he said. At the shop, a man behind the counter said the money would be transferred to the smugglers only after a successful crossing.
He said: “If your people do not cross, if he tells me to return your money back to you, I’ll do it. You can’t count on boats, you never know, God forbid the boat sinks, and all of them [drown].” He denied acting as a conduit for payments. He said: “We don’t move money… we have only phone shop.”
The use of British businesses for Channel-crossing payments was revealed to the BBC by people smugglers operating out of a migrant camp in Dunkirk....<<<Read More>>>....