Call to tackle people smugglers online

People smugglers are exploiting Facebook to peddle their £6 billion trade, a senior National Crime Agency officer has said.

Social media giants should be using their collective “brain power” to combat the problem, according to NCA deputy director Tom Dowdall.

Increasingly sophisticated criminal gangs set up Facebook pages to ply their business by appearing “reliable and safe”.

But migrants, who pay thousands of euros to the smugglers, are forced on to dangerous crossings, threatened at knifepoint and subjected to sexual abuse and rape, Mr Dowdall said. He said: “We think there is an awful lot more technology companies and internet providers can and should be doing to prevent crime networks from being able to advertise and communicate their activities.”