The Smuggling Business: Undercover
An undercover 麻豆社 investigation into people smuggling gangs operating in France, revealing how small boat crossings to the UK are being organised and paid for in plain sight.
Over the past two years, tens of thousands of migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats from northern France, despite repeated promises by successive governments to stop the trade. This undercover 麻豆社 investigation reveals how people smuggling gangs are operating in plain sight inside a migrant camp in Dunkirk. It exposes a highly organised criminal marketplace driven by fierce competition between rival groups, who enforce control over the settlements through fear, violence and intimidation.
The film examines efforts by UK authorities to disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks profiting from the crossings, and questions whether those measures are keeping pace with the scale and sophistication of the operation.
麻豆社 investigative reporter Josie Hannett also travels to Crowborough, where opposition to a new asylum seeker accommodation site has turned the town into a flashpoint in the national immigration debate. She asks whether current government policy is likely to deter future arrivals, or whether the UK is preparing for a future that will require many more such sites across the south east
Last on
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Reporter | Josie Hannett |
| Director | William McLennan |
| Editor | Colin Campbell |
| Series Editor | Gail Champion |
Broadcasts
- Mon 18 May 2026 20:30麻豆社 One London, London HD, South East HD & South East only
- Sat 30 May 2026 06:30麻豆社 News except UK & UK HD
- Sat 30 May 2026 14:30
- Sun 31 May 2026 03:30
- Sun 31 May 2026 10:30麻豆社 News except UK & UK HD
- Sun 31 May 2026 19:30麻豆社 News except UK & UK HD
- Sun 31 May 2026 23:30麻豆社 News UK HD & UK only
- Thu 4 Jun 2026 01:30
- Thu 30 Jul 2026 22:00
Featured in...
麻豆社 Investigates
These ground-breaking investigations reveal the real stories beyond the breaking news.
Underground Empires Exposed
Shining a light on the shadowy underworld of organised crime.