The UK government has announced a £100 million investment aimed at tackling organised immigration crime and illegal small boat crossings in the English Channel.
The funding will be directed towards border security operations, including enforcement, intelligence, and international disruption efforts.
According to the Home Office and The Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, the funding will support increased capacity for law enforcement agencies, including the National Crime Agency (NCA), the police, and the newly created Border Security Command. The goal is to dismantle organised criminal networks involved in people-smuggling, target illegal working operations, and strengthen the UK’s overall border security.
New Resources for Law Enforcement and Border Security
The Home Office informs that the investment will fund the recruitment of up to 300 new NCA officers and supply advanced surveillance technology, AI-driven data tools, and modern equipment for use in border detection and criminal investigations. These tools will be used to disrupt people-smuggling networks operating in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
The funding will also enable an expansion of the Organised Immigration Crime Domestic Taskforce, which focuses on tackling the UK-based elements of illegal migration activity, including small boat crossings and associated modern slavery networks.
A portion of the budget will be used to implement new digital forensics powers granted under the upcoming Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. These powers will allow police to seize and extract data from digital devices as part of immigration crime investigations.
Support for International Agreements and Intelligence Work
Part of the funding package will support a pilot of the new UK-France “one-in, one-out” returns agreement. Under this policy, migrants arriving illegally in small boats may be returned to France.
Additional funding will target upstream interventions, including cooperation with authorities in transit and origin countries to disrupt supply chains, intercept boat parts, and counter the disinformation used by smuggling gangs to recruit migrants.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:
“For six years, the small boat smuggling gangs were allowed to embed their criminal trade along our coast… That is why this government has developed a serious and comprehensive plan to dismantle their business model.”
She added, “Now this additional funding will strengthen every aspect of our plan and will turbo-charge the ability of our law enforcement agencies to track the gangs and bring them down.”
Ongoing Disruption of Criminal Networks
According to the NCA, the new investment builds on recent operational success. Between April 2024 and March 2025, the agency reported 351 disruptions of organised immigration crime networks, a 40% increase from the previous year. Of these, 56 were classified as high-impact cases, resulting in prosecutions and long-term damage to smuggling operations.
Last week, the NCA led its largest seizure of boat engines and coordinated raids in Bulgaria targeting smuggling infrastructure.
NCA Director General of Operations Rob Jones stated:
“We currently have 91 investigations ongoing into the most dangerous people-smuggling networks impacting the UK. This additional funding will help boost our capacity and capability, enabling us to target more offenders.”
Criminal Penalties and Border Legislation
The measures form part of the government’s broader “Plan for Change” on immigration enforcement. The plan includes new legal powers under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. When enacted, the bill will introduce a UK-wide offence targeting online material that facilitates illegal immigration, such as advertisements for small boat crossings.
The government reports a 50% increase in arrests of individuals working illegally and the return of 35,000 people without the legal right to remain in the UK. The initiative also supports enforcement against employers and suppliers connected to people-smuggling operations.
The Home Office states that the goal of the new investment is to restore control of the UK’s borders and stop the criminal trade in dangerous small boat crossings.
