Albanian who won Britain’s Strongest Man faces jail for trafficking as France calls for action on Channel crisis
AN ALBANIAN who once won the Britain’s Strongest Man TV contest has been convicted of people-smuggling, as France told the Home Secretary that the UK’S failure to get a grip of the gangs was fuelling the migrant crisis.
French officials said Britain needed to “step up” its action against peoplesmuggling gangs as Priti Patel met her French counterpart yesterday to discuss ways to combat the surge in migrants trying to cross the Channel.
“It’s not enough for Britain to write a cheque and leave it to us to do the policing on our side. We need the same effort and the same resources on both sides of the Channel,” said Xavier Bertrand, of the Hauts-de-france regional council, which encompasses Calais. “The gangs are generally headed by Albanians and made up entirely of Albanians and are often seen along the French coast driving Uk-registered cars,” said a French judicial source.
Yesterday, it emerged Jimmy Marku, 44, an Albanian-born Briton who won the strongman title in 2008, is facing jail after helping to smuggle 17 illegal Albanian immigrants across the Channel on a £13,000 catamaran.
He was caught after police boarded the vessel at Chichester Marina and found the Albanians hiding below. None of them had visas to enter the UK, Isleworth Crown Court was told. Marku will be sentenced on Sept 27.
Ms Patel met Christophe Castaner, her French counterpart, to discuss how they can stop migrants with better surveillance technology including CCTV and drones and more officers on patrol. More than 1,000 migrants have so far attempted to make the crossing in small boats, more than double the number for all of last year, with three suspected deaths.
A French judicial source said the boat crossings had increased because trafficking gangs exploited fears of a tougher immigration regime after Brexit to persuade people to try now.
The Home Office said tackling criminals behind people-smuggling was a “number one” priority. “Since October, Immigration Enforcement has made 19 arrests relating to small boats, charged three people and, last month, saw a small-boat people-smuggler jailed for three years. Numerous investigations are ongoing,” said a spokesman.