Busy on the night shift... the Channel traffickers
Hive of activity in town where 18 Albanians were plucked from sea
EVEN in the dead of night, this main road in the quiet seaside village of Dymchurch is a hive of activity.
While the rest of the resort sleeps, 4x4 vehicles pulling rubber inflatable boats and trailers whizz up and down the street, as this CCTV footage shows.
Locals say the images are evidence their Kent village is now a gateway for people traffickers smuggling migrants across the Channel.
In the early hours of Sunday, 18 Albanians and two Britons were rescued and brought ashore in Dymchurch after their boat began to sink. Two men have appeared in court charged with trying to smuggle the migrants in a dinghy.
In the CCTV footage, captured last Thursday at 11.21pm, a black 4x4 is spotted pulling an empty boat trailer. An hour-and-a-half later, at 12.54am, the same 4x4 returns – this time towing a boat.
It stops in the road and four men get out. They appear to check underneath the boat, before two disperse in opposite directions. Other footage seems to offer a narrative to what appears to be a highly sophisticated smuggling operation – that even involves a rescue ‘service’ when things go wrong at sea.
Footage from Saturday, May 28 at 4.43pm shows a 4x4 carrying a white inflatable boat towards the sea.
It is believed to be the same boat which was used to bring the Albanian migrants across the Channel.
Emergency services were called to that boat when it began to sink and it was recovered at around 2am.
But what the CCTV shows is that just before midnight, around the time of the distress call, another 4x4 is seen making the same journey up the hill.
This time it is a silver vehicle carrying another rubber inflatable boat – which was found abandoned on the beach the next day. It is thought the second boat was a ‘rescue boat’ sent by the smugglers when the first got into difficulty.
A 40-year- old fisherman said he had seen the smugglers arrive with the boat on Saturday afternoon. He added that the Land Rover Discovery and its cargo had stood out because they stopped traffic in order to turn around.
The man, who did not want to be named, said: ‘One guy got out of the passenger seat, stopped the traffic and then off they went. It looked like they had done it before – driving a trailer round with a big boat is quite hard.’ He added that he thought four men had been inside the car, saying: ‘They looked very professional. They looked like they were going out just for a pleasure ride – they looked the part.’
Previous CCTV footage taken on May 11 showed a similarly busy night. The next day, another boat was found abandoned on the beach, packed with life jackets.
The images appear to back up residents’ claims that they regularly spot large inflatable boats which have been dumped on beaches overnight. People traffickers are using small ports, marinas and isolated beaches, targeting the same spots once frequented by smugglers of spirits, tobacco and tea.
Those caught on CCTV could well be engaged in something entirely innocent. But no one in Dymchurch could come up with a credible theory as to what that might be. Pubs close at 11pm and there is little else to do in the resort after midnight.
The suspicion among residents is that the vehicles are being driven by smugglers preparing to transport migrants. They say the images show a sustained pattern of activity and not a one-off opportunist.
Mark Wools, 53, who owns the Dymchurch amusement arcade, said: ‘It was a slick operation.
‘Border control came and told me there was an incident and so we looked at the CCTV. I was surprised to see the trafficking of migrants in a small village like Dymchurch.
‘This has happened on several occasions. The people doing it must be making money and the migrants are taking risks crossing the Channel.’The
‘They looked very professional’ ‘It was a slick operation’
news came as the mayor of Paris announced plans for a permanent refugee camp in the city. Anne Hidalgo said this will be in northern Paris, where hundreds of migrants often camp near metro stations.
Up to 70 per cent of Albanians who claim asylum in Britain do not return home – even though their country is at peace – an analysis suggests.
The Migration Watch think-tank said Home Office data showed there were 4,653 asylum applications from Albanians between 2008 and 2014.
Of these, 1,449 received permission to stay. But of the rest, only 1,337 have been removed – meaning seven in ten applicants remained in total.