- EXCLUSIVE: 5,000 Albanians have crossed Channel by small boat this year
- Albanian drug lords are sending 'cleanskins' with no criminal record to the UK
- Checks failing to pick up links between some Channel arrivals and crime groups
- More than 5,000 Albanians have landed in the UK by small boat across the Channel so far this year - with more than half of today's 600 arrivals from the tiny Balkan state, it has emerged.
Albanian drug lords are sending so-called 'cleanskins' with no criminal record to Britain aboard small boats to become embroiled in organised criminal gangs, according David Barrett of the Mail+.
And checks on Channel arrivals are failing to pick up connections between some arrivals and human-traffickers in the Balkans who are exploiting weaknesses in the UK's 'modern slavery' laws, sources have said.
Officials fear that migrants with no previous convictions are then being drawn into drug gangs, among other forms of organised crime, in order to repay debts they owe people-smugglers.
'Cleanskins' is a term first used by security services in Northern Ireland during The Troubles to describe recruitment of terrorists with no criminal record by IRA and Loyalist paramilitaries.
It comes as official government figures show than 21,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats this year to date.
Members of Border Force escort migrants back to Dover Marina today
Official figures showed Albanians made up the largest group making modern slavery claims between April and June, with 1,130 applications (pictured: People smugglers are using TikTok to sell Channel crossings)