Officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) stopped the lorry as it was approaching the Dover ferry port and found the men hidden inside as part of a sting operation. Police had been tracking a suspected organised crime group involved in smuggling migrants out of the UK and said immigration crime was threatening the border security of both the UK and France.
Investigators discovered the gangs were brazenly offering to transport migrants from Calais to Dover in the back of trucks and touting it as a "taxi service". In one promotional video, three migrants are seen reclining on a mound of soft white packages inside a truck. One of the young men gives a thumbs-up to the camera. "By truck, Safe reach London UK in 2 hours," reads the caption.
British border security officers have been deployed to the Balkans for the first time in an effort to disrupt the networks smuggling migrants into the UK. Officers have been sent to develop new ways of working with Frontex, the EU's border agency, to track down and arrest people-smugglers operating along key routes into western Europe. As part of the initiative, UK officers are training border guards across the western Balkans to use British-made drones and biometric tracking systems to track migrants.
A child is believed to have died while trying to cross the Channel in a small boat, according to French reports. The body of the teenager, who was believed to have fallen from a dinghy, was discovered on a beach in northern France on Sunday. The death follows those of three other people on Saturday who were trying to reach the UK two Somali women who were reportedly crushed in a boat,
The MP for Birmingham Ladywood has won admirers for being an effective justice secretary and persuasive communicator while forcing through potentially explosive policies such as prisoners' early release schemes and a new sentencing regime. But her ability to tackle her new responsibilities which include immigration, national security and policing will be seen as key to curbing the growing electoral threat of Nigel Farage's Reform UK party.
The International Organization for Migration estimates that at least 30,000 people have died while trying to reach Italy from North Africa since the group began keeping track in 2014. Migrants often undergo inhumane treatment at the hands of people smugglers in Libya, who demand exorbitant sums and promise an easy crossing to Europe. These migrants typically come from other parts of Africa, where they faced difficult conditions such as conflict or violence.
The United Kingdom has sanctioned 25 targets involved in alleged people smuggling, under a new financial sanctions regime targeting those facilitating the travel of refugees and migrants across the English Channel via small boats.
