A National Crime Agency report shows a 55% jump in arrests linked to people smuggling in the year ending April 2026, with 300 arrests, up from 190, driven by expanded resources and more officers focused on organised immigration crime.

The NCA also logged 400 disruptions against organised immigration crime networks in 2025–26, up from 350 the year before, signaling intensified effort to disrupt networks at multiple points along the route.

Across 2025/26, the NCA led 400 disruptions to organised immigration crime networks, part of a government-funded expansion of resources dedicated to OIC crime.

The government’s Border Security and Asylum Minister affirmed a commitment to the biggest crackdown yet, citing expanded enforcement actions and ongoing detentions and arrests of criminals bringing illegal migrants to the UK.

Officials framed the crackdown as the largest-ever effort against people smuggling, noting a surge in arrests and enforcement since the current government took office.

They stressed the crackdown is the broadest and most sustained to date, with record enforcement actions and a focus on deterring traffickers by holding them to account.

NCA leadership described a comprehensive, global approach, targeting networks at every stage and across locations beyond Europe, including Iraq and Libya, to disrupt and dismantle smuggling operations.

Director General Rob Jones said the agency is expanding efforts beyond Europe to place pressure on networks where they previously operated with impunity.

The strategy targets smuggling networks from source and transit countries to the UK border and within the UK, employing a full range of tactics to disrupt, protect lives, and safeguard border security.

In 2025, the NCA seized more than 500 boats and engines in collaboration with international partners and helped social platforms remove over 10,000 accounts or posts tied to organised immigration crime.

Organised immigration crime now accounts for about a quarter of the NCA’s overall activity, with roughly 100 ongoing investigations into the highest-harm groups or individuals.

Notable convictions include Ahmed Ramadan Mohamad Ebid, jailed for 25 years in May 2025 for leading a £12 million illegal boat crossing operation, and Adem Savas, sentenced to 11 years for supplying boats and engines; also, six arrests tied to a Dover lorry with 23 migrants in early 2026, and a March 2026 German operation leading to four more arrests linked to equipment supply for boat gangs.