Criminals who herd desperate people onto dinghies will be targeted (Image: Getty)
The “violent and dangerous” smuggling gangs behind the small boats crisis will be targeted with the latest technology as Britain invests £75million in border security.
Ruthless criminals who make millions from the sending people across the Channel in flimsy dinghies will be tracked and intercepted with “game-changing” new equipment.
New funding for the National Crime Agency will support criminal investigations and “disruption operations” in the UK, across Europe and beyond.
This comes on top of cash to recruit 100 specialist intelligence and investigative officers. Extra staff across Europe will go after the gangs and break up their supply chains.
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In an early success, staff deployed to Bulgaria’s border saw 10 small boat engines seized. This came on the heels of the seizure of 20 small boats and engines in this “transit country”.
Cooperation with partners in the Netherlands and Italy led to the seizure of around 600 “dangerous” lifejackets which would have been used by gangs sending migrants across the Channel.
Ms Cooper said: “Criminal smuggling gangs who organise small boat crossings undermine our border security and put lives at risk, as we tragically saw again yesterday. The new government is rapidly accelerating cooperation with other countries to crack down on these dangerous gangs.
“This includes funding new technology to support specialist operations being run across Europe and beyond. It’s vital that we disrupt the way these violent and dangerous gangs operate.
“That means going after their supply chains, so boats and engines don’t reach the French coast, tracking their communications, and following flows of money through the criminal networks. In the coming months, we will be scaling up our Border Security Command, recruiting more investigative officers and working more closely with our European partners to ensure these criminal gangs are stopped and brought to justice.”
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On Friday, 395 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel, taking the total for the year to 25,639. This compares with 33,611 who had arrived by the same date in 2022.
Last week Home Secretary Yvette Cooper met with interior and security ministers from across the G7 nations in Avelliono in Italy.
She met with the new French interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, and has agreed to visit France before the end of the year to discuss new ways that Britain can work with close neighbours to crack down on people smugglers and traffickers.