SMUGGLING gangs are ordering migrants to hide in former Nazi bunkers before they board dinghies to cross the Channel to Britain.
The derelict concrete forts are hidden in dunes less than a mile from the French coast between Calais and Dunkirk. They were part of Hitler's so-called "Atlantic Wall" - built to try to stop the Allied invasion of Germanoccupied France in 1944.
One local told us: "The gangs are using the bunkers as a final staging post for the migrants to rest and prepare for the final stage of their journey.
"Large numbers of them arrive each day and stay huddled together inside them out of sight through the night before leaving early to get on dinghies.
"Police are aware of what's happening but there isn't much they can do."
The blockhouses, on the outskirts of the small town of Grand-Fort-Philippe, include a former anti-tank gun garage, weapon storerooms and barracks. Smugglers take migrants there after herding them onto buses, which are free to travel on, outside a supermarket near Dunkirk.
They get off at a bus stop and are taken to the bunkers, a 10-minute walk away via a park.
Our investigators watched on Thursday evening as more than 70 men, mostly from the Kurdistan region, were led there with the intention of being guided to small boats in the early hours of the following morning.
When we approached the group early the next day, a man who appeared to be in charge demanded angrily: "Why are you here? What do you want? Go!"
This story is from the April 28, 2024 edition of The Sunday Mirror.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 28, 2024 edition of The Sunday Mirror.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
TEN HAG MAY GET HIS KANE WISH... BUT NOT AT OLD TRAFFORD
ERIK TEN HAG could get his wish to manage super-striker Harry Kane after all - with Bayern Munich hot on the Dutchman's heels.
Diaby: One Moustake will not ruin our season
FOCUS SWITCHES TO CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
REMEMBER JURGEN FOR PASSION ... NOT JUST AS A MOANER GEEZER
JURGEN KLOPP was never going to go quietly and there will be more to come over the next fortnight, for sure.
DJORDJE SURE
Petrovic: We should be fighting for the Champions League, not the Europa...
BROAD SMILES
Peters praises his Jack of all trades
Laser hope on spinal injuries
Light beam heals damage
I wanted to end it all at 21... now I want to help young people
Traitors winner on mission after mental health ordeal
ELECTRONIC TAGS WORN BY 20,000
Device 'being used instead of jail'
I'm better tonic than the NHS
Energy flows between Jane and audience in live shows
BRITS FEEL THE BOOZE PRICE STRAIN IN SPAIN
Sunseekers put off by soaring cost of drinks