Those who miss payments are beaten, or worse. Their families back home can also be targeted. Sometimes the gangs insist that families borrow to pay the fees right away, sending home a sliced-off ear or finger of a loved one to make their point. Countries are cooperating to choke off the smuggling routes, but it's a struggle. The penalties for getting caught are often milder than for shipping drugs.
Traffickers find new channels to experiment with as legitimate global commerce accelerates.
It's a new, globalized Mafia. Its biggest players are Chinese gangs known as snakeheads. The dead in Dover came overland. That's the primary route for the growing number of Chinese illegals coming to Europe, drawn to Chinese communities in France and Britain. Police won't confirm the exact journey as described by the two survivors, who were rushed to a hospital and then released to a police safe house.