By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-09-04 14:00:31 | Updated at 2026-09-04 14:28:23
36 minutes ago
A shopkeeper who made hundreds of thousands of Euros helping facilitate migrants crossing to Britain on small boats has avoided jail by a French judge.
The man is considered one of the most powerful organised crime figures in northern France when it comes to the crossings to the UK.
But he has walked free from court with just a suspended sentence, despite making €400,000 (£343,660) from crossings.
He ran a tobacco shop in Dunkirk, where hundreds of migrants would queue to use a system to withdraw cards which can pay for items.
Under the scheme, he would then return cash to the migrants for the cards, taking a five per cent cut.
The cash was handed back to the migrants but prosecutors said this was used to supply networks of smugglers sending migrants to Britain.
It is thought migrants would then use the cash to make it easier to coming to the UK.
He was sentenced on Wednesday to fraud and money laundering.
The prosecution also made it clear he had helped illegal migration.
He has been jailed for two years but 15 months will be suspended, with the judge ruling the other nine months will be served on licence.
He was also fined €50,000 (£42,964.25) by the French court.
The shopkeeper has avoided jail (file pic)
Both the UK and France are boosting police officer numbers on the French coast to stop “mega dinghies” from launching across the English Channel.
Andy Burnham said the two countries must "stay one step ahead" of the criminals’ evolving tactics as the Prime Minister vowed not to be "complacent" after a fall in the number of small boat arrivals.
While the combined total number of boat crossings over the summer months has dropped to its lowest since 2019, smugglers appear to have started loading more people on to fewer, larger vessels.
A specialist French intelligence and judicial team seeking to root out and prosecute smuggling networks has grown from 18 to 30 officers.
Migrants have gathered in Calais
Mr Burnham said in a statement: "The progress we have seen this summer shows what can be achieved when the UK and France work together.
"But I am clear that we cannot be complacent. Smuggling gangs are constantly adapting their tactics, and the UK and France need to respond quickly and stay one step ahead of the criminals facilitating the dangerous crossings.
"The small boats crisis is a shared European challenge, and no country can solve it alone.
Working with France and our international partners, we will restore order and control to our borders and prevent smugglers exploiting vulnerable migrants."
Nigel Farage signs 'memorandum of understanding' with France's Jordan Bardella
PA
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage said a "new entente cordiale" between France and the UK will be ushered in if Rassemblement National (RN) and Reform UK win their next national elections.
He and the RN president Jordan Bardella, who spoke at the party’s conference in Birmingham, signed a “memorandum of understanding” on co-operation on small boat crossings, to provide the basis of an agreement if the parties enter Government.
Speaking after Mr Bardella, Mr Farage said: “We today are going to begin a genuine new entente cordiale between our parties and our countries...We are about to sign a historic document that will stop the boats forever.”
Mr Bardella added: “The beginning of the co-operation.”
