Gangs selling real passports to migrants for under £500
CRIMINAL gangs are selling genuine British passports to migrants for less than £500.
The price has dropped dramatically from £2,000 a year ago because more than 20,000 passports have flooded the black market. The development raises fears that Islamic State fanatics could find it easier to reach our shores.
A senior police chief described the illicit trade as one of the fastest growing problems in Europe.
Rob Wainwright, the director of Europol, also raised concerns that border controls were unable to deal with ‘sophisticated counterfeit criminal syndicates’. The Border Force has seized more than 6,500 illegal passports at checkpoints over the last three years – double the figure of the three previous years. The ease with which passports can be obtained was laid bare by an undercover investigator in Athens.
Known only as Hashmet, he was able to obtain a phone number of an illegal passport seller within minutes of entering Victoria Square, where migrants congregate. Hashmet, who was working on behalf of ITV’s Tonight programme, then met another member of the criminal gang, who offered him a selection of identity papers. For 500 euros – about £460 – he was offered a British passport, thought to have been stolen, of a man with similar features. The deal included advice on which airports in the UK have the weakest security and other tips on fooling British immigration officials.
But Emma Moore, Border Force’s chief operating officer, said: ‘All passengers have 100 per cent checks at on their arrival into the UK.’
Undercover: Breaking Into Britain is on ITV at 7.30pm this evening.