Ruthless smugglers mob beaches with migrants

PEOPLE smugglers are using a deadly new tactic to send desperate migrants across the Channel to Britain.

- Adam Gillham

The gangs have begun “mobbing” French beaches with migrants in an attempt to overwhelm police and launch overcrowded boats into the water.

It is feared this latest tactic is behind a spate of tragedies which saw seven people die last month. A total of 23 have died this year.

Experts believe smugglers are organising large numbers of desperate people to swoop onto beaches in timed operations to board inflatables – leaving it almost impossible for police to stop them all.

When boats are halted by French officers – using knives to puncture the flimsy vessels – migrants clamber onto other full ones, causing dangerous overcrowding.