A new dedicated taskforce has been launched to transform the way in which the police respond to organised immigration crime gangs operating from the UK, facilitating people-smuggling across the Channel.
The Organised Immigration Crime Domestic Taskforce will be led by Deputy Chief Constable, Wendy Gunney, who is the National Lead for Serious Organised Crime at the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).
Wendy will be supported by a full-time, dedicated assistant chief constable, and will report progress on a regular basis to the Border Security Commander, Martin Hewitt, and the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper.
The taskforce will be responsible for delivering progress on recent recommendations made by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), following an inspection of the approach to tackling organised immigration crime across the UK.
The inspection, commissioned in January 2024 by the then Home Secretary, looked at police force performance in relation to organised immigration crime between January 2024 and July 2024. It found that while progress has been made, more must be done, with HMICFRS setting out 10 key recommendations, including the need for more effective action against smuggling gangs based in the UK.
This new approach will ensure all police forces work alongside the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force to treat this crime type as a priority.
In practice, this will mean better information-sharing and more co-ordinated tasking, ensuring UK policing is able to use every tool at its disposal to prevent organised criminal networks from undermining UK immigration law, and working to identify and dismantle any smuggling gangs operating from a UK base.
Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said:
This new specialist taskforce directly responds to recommendations made by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services and marks a significant step in our Plan for Change to secure Britain’s borders. By bringing together expertise under Deputy Chief Constable Wendy Gunney’s leadership and working closely with Martin Hewitt, we are ensuring a co-ordinated, nationwide approach that will put this vital issue at the forefront of policing priorities.
This taskforce reflects our commitment to giving law enforcement the tools they need to dismantle criminal networks that undermine our immigration system and put lives at risk. Police forces and regional organised crime units across the UK need to rapidly gear up the response to organised immigration crime, and smuggling and trafficking gangs. Already we have set up the Border Security Command, and the National Crime Agency has substantially increased its operations and intelligence gathering work with other countries.
These gangs undermine border security and put lives at risk. We need every possible tool to stop them and put dangerous criminals behind bars.
Deputy Chief Constable, Wendy Gunney, said:
The Organised Immigration Crime Domestic Taskforce will enable our well-established partnerships with other law enforcement agencies to create a multi-agency, national response in tackling organised immigration crime.
The taskforce will build on existing work driven by the NPCC’s modern slavery and organised immigration crime programme, which supports local force operational activity and intelligence collection linked to the wider organised immigration crime threat.
By working this way, we will accelerate intelligence and information sharing, ensuring organised immigration crime is disrupted robustly and effectively.
Border Security Commander, Martin Hewitt, said:
Wendy’s wealth of experience and knowledge on serious and organised crime is a vital asset in our fight to tackle border security threats, and I am delighted she has agreed to lead this taskforce.
This is a key part of my whole-system approach to securing our borders, because it puts tackling immigration crime at the forefront of policing priorities.
Police forces across the UK are already very committed to this issue, and while immigration-related arrests and charges have increased, we know there is more to do. So, this is about optimising that collective effort to deliver a properly functioning immigration system, and a safe and secure border.
This latest step comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer continues his visit in Tirana today, to step up co-operation on migration and expand successful joint initiatives with Albania to more countries in the region.
It also follows the Prime Minister unveiling of the government’s immigration white paper earlier this week, a comprehensive plan that will bring net migration to the UK down significantly, and restore fairness in our immigration system.
