Almost 12,000 advertisements used by smugglers to attract migrants to use their services have been removed from social networks.
Smugglers offering a 100 percent safety guarantee and a competition to win €500 are among nearly 12,000 advertisements attracting migrants to use their services, Sky News writes.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has stepped up efforts to stop organized gangs using online platforms to lure migrants to cross the Channel in small boats.
About 3,300 posts, pages or accounts were removed or suspended by April 2023, while almost 9,000 were removed during the last year, making a total of almost 12,000 by the end of June. The head of the NCA’s organized immigration crime unit, Dan Barcroft, said social media was crucial to the functioning of organized crime groups.
In April, four Vietnamese nationals were arrested in the UK as part of a major investigation by French authorities into alleged smugglers who advertise small boat crossings on Facebook.
„This work is extremely important and we will do everything in our power to crack down on criminals who brazenly promote their smuggling businesses online and use social media to profit from human misery“, said Minister of Internal Affairs Anđela Igl.
Source: Agencies
Photo: pixabay
Source: www.advertiser-serbia.com
