An Albanian migrant who illegally entered the UK on a dinghy and then became involved in drug trafficking is facing deportation, three years after arriving in England. The Daily Mail reports that Elvis Zoto, 22, was sentenced to 2 years and 9 months in prison for trafficking pure cocaine. According to the Daily Mail, the young Albanian bragged on social media about his illegal entry into the UK and even posted a photo of his Home Office registration form showing his arrival in Dover in 2022.
Contacted later by a British media reporter, the 22-year-old Albanian said the journey to the UK had been easy and that he had left the hotel where he had been staying as an asylum seeker. Zoto flew from Albania to Belgium and then travelled by train to France. Zoto then crossed the Channel with the help of a smuggler in small dinghies.
More than 12,600 Albanians arrived in Britain by small boats in 2022 before a return deal reduced that number. At the time, the National Crime Agency (NCA) warned that Albanian drug gangs were using the route to bring workers to the UK.
Like most Albanian small boat arrivals at the time, Zoto sought asylum and settled in a hotel. In his first interview, Zoto claimed that he had fled Albania after being forced into drug trafficking. He later claimed that he was a victim of human trafficking.
However, the Albanian stayed at the Crowne Plaza for only two days before escaping on July 2 as part of a pre-planned escape. Asylum seekers must maintain contact with the Ministry of Interior as part of their release and inform authorities of any new address.
The Interior Ministry drafted a letter to Zoto stating that his decision to leave the hotel meant that his asylum application had been implicitly withdrawn, but this letter was not sent because they did not know where he lived. Court documents say there is no evidence that officials tried to contact him by any other method despite having his phone number in Albania.
Apparently, Zoto quickly became involved with a drug gang and on November 1, 2023, he was arrested by Essex Police following a stop and search. Criminals who receive a prison sentence of over a year face automatic deportation, but Zoto won the right to challenge the decision on the grounds that he still had a pending asylum claim and a hearing was held in July 2025.
But his appeal was dismissed in a ruling issued on Wednesday by High Court Judge Claire Padley, who upheld the Home Office's claim that Zoto had waived his right to seek asylum by fleeing his hotel.
Zoto had a conditional release date of December 2024. A video posted to Zoto's TikTok account shortly after he escaped from the asylum hotel shows him sitting outside a cafe on a busy London street. The video was accompanied by laughing emojis. Separate images showed him posing with large wads of 20 and 50 pound notes.
Asked by the Daily Mail about the dangers of crossing the Channel, Zoto said: "Don't be afraid. I arrived by boat. A journey that doesn't require much money and the best for you. They keep you in detention for a maximum of two days, then send you to a hotel. The conditions in the detention center are good."
Zoto said you tell the authorities you're married and that's the end of the story. You have to leave the hotel and wait for your relatives to pick you up in the car.
“I left that hotel window… I disappeared… I kept a low profile and after a month I found a lawyer,” Zoto said.
Migrants in small boats have regularly documented their crossings on social media. One of them, Parwiz Hanifyar, has garnered nearly a million views for his 'step-by-step' guide to illegally entering Britain. The Afghan, who left Calais at around 4am last Saturday, shared videos of himself on the small boat before streaming them live from an asylum hotel.
More than 27,000 migrants in small boats have arrived so far in 2025 – a record for this point in the year since data collection began in 2018. On Wednesday, a record 107 migrants in small boats reached Britain in just one dinghy, defying the Labour Party’s pledge to “crush the gangs”. The use of larger boats for migrants will be a deep concern for British officials, who have invested significant resources in efforts to cut off supplies to smugglers./ Daily Mail/
