Kingpins in Channel smuggling operations living freely in the UK, say migrants

Migrants say the three men have evaded Home Office detection and could be laundering up to 100,000 a day each

Three of the kingpins in operations to smuggle thousands of asylum seekers across the Channel in small boats are living and working freely in the UK and have evaded detection by the Home Office and law enforcement agencies, migrants interviewed by the Guardian have claimed.

Asylum seekers interviewed by the Guardian on condition of anonymity who have communicated with the three men they say are among those at the top of the cross-Channel smuggling operations estimate that during the busy summer season each of these three men could be laundering up to 100,000 a day.