People smugglers SLASH prices to exploit crisis and get small boat migrants across the Channel into Britain

People smugglers have slashed prices to exploit a growing European migrant crisis.

Crossing the Channel cost at as little as €600 (£513) per person on Friday afternoon - a £200 drop in prices.

Illegal traffickers said it was an exciting opportunity as 60,000 migrants flooded into Ceuta - although most have now returned to Morocco.

"Without a doubt, it’s a big opportunity," a smuggler told The Telegraph.

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"Of course the Spanish authorities are not going to find all of them, but we've already secured some who are coming to us, and then to Britain."

Prices for a four-day boat journey from Turkey to Italy also sharply dropped by up to $2,000 (£1,480).

A smuggler told a reporter - posing as a migrant in Ceuta hoping to get to the UK - that traffickers were now "reducing the prices and speeding up the process".

"And do not worry - we're expanding our networks, so your relative can be picked up by our men and sent to Britain quickly," the smuggler added.

On Saturday, Zia Yusuf, Reform UK's Home Affairs spokesman, told GB News migrants had been "marauding through town, looting shops" and "terrorising local residents".

"I've already spoken to them - a number of them here - who say they started their journey from Morocco with the express intention of coming to Britain," he said.

Prospective asylum seekers in the Middle East said they believed Spain had opened its borders after watching footage of migrants swimming into the Spanish exclave, which borders Morocco.

Trafficking networks operating between Iran and Afghanistan, and between Iran and Turkey, said inquires had soared after the Ceuta crisis.

CEUTA MIGRANT CRISIS - READ MORE:

• Morocco condemned for ‘facilitating' illegal crossings into European Union
• ‘I’m here for fun!’ Ceuta migrants speak to GB News after 60,000 storm Spanish city
• EU may not help Spain until SEPTEMBER as 'weak' migration mechanism risks huge delay

A separate smuggler said cutting costs was offset by the spike in interest.

"You can make more money in these situations in 10 days than in the whole year," the trafficker said.

"Half the money, but double the people - and there will be far more people than on a normal day.

"Prices are falling across the whole market after what happened in Spain, and there is more demand for people who help migrants reach England and other countries."

The influx of migrants into Ceuta followed a ruling from Spain's Supreme Court, which last month said migrants intercepted at sea could not be returned.

Pedro Sanchez, Spanish Prime Minister, blamed the gangs for "a self-serving interpretation" of the Supreme Court ruling, adding that it had "spread like wildfire" through human trafficking gangs and caused an "avalanche" of migrants.

He also took shots at fellow European leaders, condemning their "selfish, polarising and unlawful" reactions - which he said were "driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance, or political interest".

The EU is now set to host an emergency meeting next week after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni temporarily suspended the Schengen Zone with Spain.

Ceuta is not in the Schengen Zone.

Andy Burnham, reacting to the crisis, previously said Britain was offering "what help we can".

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