Government to hire 100 intelligence officers to tackle people smuggling

The Home Office has announced plans to recruit 100 investigators and intelligence officers to target people-smuggling gangs.

Home secretary Yvette Cooper said that the National Crime Agency (NCA) will hire the specialists so that they can infiltrate and disrupt immigration crime networks that exploit asylum seekers.

The recruitment drive is part of a commitment by the government to carry out a record number of deportations of illegal migrants, with a target of removing more than 14,500 in the next six months.

To do this, immigration detention centres (and the teams who work there) will be expanded, and 300 Home Office caseworkers have already been redeployed since the election to track, detain and return illegal migrants.

The new specialist officers will work with European agencies to target the gangs. Almost 20,000 people have attempted to enter the UK on small boats this year.

The Home Office will also launch a new illegal working programme targeted at finding employers who hire people with no right to work in the UK.

So far, the NCA is leading around 70 investigations into major people-smuggling and trafficking groups.

Cooper said: “Our new border security command is already gearing up, with new staff being urgently recruited and additional staff already stationed across Europe.

“They will work with European enforcement agencies to find every route into smashing the criminal smuggling gangs organising dangerous boat crossings.

“And by increasing enforcement capabilities and returns, we will establish a system that is better controlled and managed, in place of the chaos that has blighted the system for far too long.”

Earlier this month, figures on the number of legal migrants entering the UK to work showed that numbers continue to decline thanks to curbs on visas introduced by the Conservative government.

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