LAST UPDATE | 5 Dec 2024

OVER THIRTY PEOPLE have been arrested in relation to people-smuggling across the Common Travel Area of Ireland, the UK, the Isle of Mann and the Channel Islands. 

The 35 arrests, which were made in multiple locations across the UK and Ireland, come as part of a crackdown on Common Travel Area (CTA) abuse.

The operation targeted “ruthless criminal gangs”, the UK’s Home Office said, “who exploit vulnerable migrants, charging them thousands of pounds to enter the UK illegally, luring them with false promises of a better life”.

The arrests were made by the Home Office in a partnership with An Garda Síochána  and Police Service Northern Ireland, in an intensified effort to crackdown on people-smuggling gangs exploiting the CTA. 

As part of a three-day operation, Immigration Enforcement teams alongside police forces descended on locations including Belfast, Scotland, Liverpool and Manchester. 

Checks were conducted at major ports, airports, road networks and private addresses across the country, targeting illegal migration and disrupting smuggling routes.

During the operation, £5,000 of criminal cash, a car and two fraudulent identity documents were seized. The documents found are used by such gangs to enable them to evade immigration controls, police said. 

By exploiting these people, the gangs not only profit but also place them at risk of severe legal and personal consequences.”

The Home Office said that the operation is part of a national effort to stop irregular migration and human trafficking at key entry points across the UK.  

An Garda Síochána said that the operation was “part of our shared efforts to stop irregular migration, people smuggling and human trafficking into Ireland and the UK, and also protect the integrity of the Common Travel Area.

“Unfortunately, a lot of people who illegally enter Ireland are exploited and this operation is focused on protecting vulnerable people and bringing crime gangs involved in people smuggling and exploitation to justice.”

Head of the Garda National Immigration Bureau, Detective Chief Superintendent Aidan Minnock, said that while the CTA provides privileges to citizens of Ireland and the UK, it also provides challenges to policing and immigration enforcement in both jurisdictions.

“These organised crime gangs do not recognise borders, so it is vital that immigration enforcement agencies work in cohesion to ensure the border is not an obstacle to policing, but rather works to our advantage as we combine forces in our shared objectives to disrupt organised criminals, maintain the integrity of the Common Travel Area and protect vulnerable persons in society,” he said.