A suspected people smuggler was caught on video pretending to fall off a small boat to evade suspicion from French police.
Astonishing footage captured by Sky News during an investigation into European human smuggling gangs shows a packed dinghy preparing to leave the shores of Dunkirk with the aim of transporting dozens of migrants across the English Channel.
As the small boat begins to sail away, a man wearing a black tracksuit and cap is seen pretending to fall off the inflatable vessel, clearly not intending to travel.
The man is later seen in a separate clip being questioned by police alongside three other suspected people smugglers.
The shocking video was just one moment captured by Sky News as it went behind the scenes of Europe’s people smuggling industry.
The investigation also revealed how people smuggler’s, who accompany migrants in their journey to the UK, charge people around £3,000 to be transported across the Channel.
According to one London-based human trafficker, who was interviewed by Sky, said that smugglers often live out in Calais, where several migrants stay in temporary camps after reaching Europe.
He added that higher-up figures are based in countries like Poland, Germany and Belgium, where they buy boats to send over to their workers in France.
A suspected people smuggler was caught on video pretending to fall off a small boat to evade suspicion from French police
As the small boat begins to sail away, a man wearing a black tracksuit and cap is seen pretending to fall off the inflatable vessel, clearly not intending to travel
‘The middle people live in ‘the Jungle’ all the time, and they get people ready’, the smuggler said, adding that the boss figures decide when it is time for traffickers to send migrants across the Channel.
The investigation comes as Britain struggles to tackle a migration crisis, which has seen hundreds of people fleeing poverty and conflict attempting to cross the English Channel in overloaded boats run by smugglers.
The topic has becoming a political flashpoint in the UK, with tensions escalating over the housing of the tens of thousands of asylum-seekers at the expense of taxpayers.
It also comes as a total of 503 migrants crossed the English Channel last Saturday.
The latest arrivals sailed to the UK in seven small boats, with more inflatable vessels. making the crossing from France to Dover on Sunday, bringing the total number for this year so far up to 38,726.
This compares with 32,119 who made the journey by the same date last year, and 26,699 in 2023.
The arrivals in the Kent port last week come as Shabana Mahmood is due to announce a major shake-up of Britain’s immigration rules in the coming weeks, with changes modelled on the Danish system.
The Home Secretary sent officials to Denmark last month to study its border control and asylum policies, which are seen as some of the toughest in Europe.
Britain has been struggling to tackle a migration crisis, which has seen hundreds of people fleeing poverty and conflict attempting to cross the English Channel in overloaded boats run by smugglers
Migrants wade into the sea to try to board smugglers’ boats in an attempt to cross the English Channel off the beach of Gravelines, northern France on September 27, 2025
Its tighter rules on family reunions and restricting some refugees to a temporary stay are among the policies being looked at.
Ms Mahmood has said she wants deterrents in place to stop people seeking to enter the UK via unauthorised routes, while making it easier to remove those who are found to have no right to stay.
Sources said she was eager to meet Danish immigration minister Rasmus Stoklund as soon as possible.
