Report: English Channel Migrants Used as Drug Mules

Asylum seekers crossing the English Channel reportedly are being paid to bring illegal drugs into Great Britain.

The Telegraph reported that migrants making the dangerous small-boat journey from northern France are being recruited as drug mules, offered free or cut-price passage if they swallow packets of Class A narcotics, including heroin and cocaine, and deliver them to organized criminal gangs once inside the United Kingdom.

Smugglers and drug traffickers are increasingly working together to exploit what critics describe as porous borders and limited screening capacity, The Telegraph reported.

Drug smugglers told undercover reporters posing as migrants that "easier options" existed for those who could not afford crossing fees, including swallowing "packages" and handing them off after arrival.

In some cases, migrants who agreed to smuggle drugs were allegedly promised "VIP crossings," placed on boats with women and children because criminals believe that combination draws less scrutiny from the U.K.'s Border Force.

The Telegraph said traffickers indicated the contraband is often collected after migrants are placed in Home Office-funded accommodation, including hotels used to house asylum seekers while claims are being processed.

The newspaper reported that the method is viewed as "foolproof" by criminals, who warned couriers not to disappear with the drugs and suggested police would be unlikely to catch the transfer once the packages were recovered.

British authorities pushed back on the newspaper's claims.

A Home Office spokesman told The Telegraph that officials do not recognize the allegations and said every illegal arrival is subject to security checks and searches intended to prevent illicit drugs from entering the country.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said it was not something it specifically recognized, but added it remains "alive" to changes in organized immigration crime and drug threats.

Western governments have long struggled to confront the possibility mass illegal-migration routes can be hijacked by transnational criminal networks.

The Trump administration has been conducting strikes on vessels allegedly carrying drugs destined for sale in the U.S.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth has defended the strikes on the alleged drug cartel boats, saying President Donald Trump has the power to take military action "as he sees fit" to defend the nation.

In the U.K., The Telegraph cited concerns that only a limited number of incoming migrants receive the kinds of scans or X-rays that could detect swallowed contraband.

And once migrants are transferred to accommodations, the focus of searches is often on phones and SIM cards, leaving potential gaps criminals can exploit.

The Conservatives in Britain seized on the report as evidence the crisis is about more than immigration.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called the small-boat surge "a crime crisis too," saying it is "disgusting" that gangs may be using illegal crossings to smuggle drugs into Britain.

Philp argued the route must be shut down and criticized Labour as "too weak" to restore border control, while promoting proposals to speed deportations and deter illegal arrivals.

The Telegraph report also suggested economic pressures are pushing migrants toward criminal arrangements.

Smuggling fees can range from hundreds to more than a thousand pounds, and migrants described being pressured or intimidated by traffickers in French port areas when they lacked money to pay.

Security experts interviewed by The Telegraph said the overlap between human trafficking and drug trafficking is unsurprising.

The U.K. is a high-demand market for heroin and cocaine, and criminals have strong incentives to create new supply routes, especially when traditional smuggling channels face increased enforcement.

Newsmax Wires contributed to this report.