31 arrested in Home Office crackdown on people smuggling gangs - after 700 more migrants crossed the Channel this weekend to bring the total for the year to 24,000

Thirty-one people have been arrested in a Home Office crackdown on people smuggling gangs.

Immigration enforcement teams and police officers seized £400,000 worth or criminal cash and 10 fraudulent ID documents in Belfast , Scotland, Liverpool and Luton as part of a three-day operation.

The checks were carried out at major ports, airports, and road networks in an attempt to disrupt smuggling routes.

It comes as more than 700 migrants crossed the Channel in 11 small boats yesterday, meaning a total of 24,335 people have been detected making the journey so far this year .

Home Office figures show 707 people were detected coming across on Saturday — one of the highest daily figures this year. It follows three days where no crossings were detected at all.

Dame Angela Eagle, minister for Border security and asylum, warned the Labour government was 'taking the fight to them [criminal gangs] on all fronts' as part of Sir Keir Starmer 's new Border Security Command.

'This government will not stand by as criminal gangs exploit vulnerable people, risking their lives and giving them false hopes of a better life in the UK, Dame Angela said.

'Driven by greed, these gangs have no regard for human life or safety, charging outrageous fees, preying on those desperate to escape hardship, and forcing them into illegal and dangerous situations.'

Home Office immigration enforcement inspector Jonathan Evans lauded the multi-agency operation as a 'huge success' and said it sent a 'clear message that the smuggling gangs who break our laws will face serious consequences'.

'We are taking action day in, day out to ensure we stay a step ahead of these criminal groups, disrupting them at the earliest possible stage,' he said.

'We will continue working relentlessly to ensure no one abuses the Common Travel Area or the UK's borders.'

Footage seen by MailOnline today shows a French warship passing an inflatable dinghy carrying migrants which was overcrowded and sat floating in the water .

Eight men died earlier this month with six people including a 10-month-old baby being taken to hospital after a boat with 53 migrants on board crashed into rocks off the coast of Ambleteuse in the Pas-de-Calais region of northern France .

Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick alleged individuals linked to Islamic State and Al-Qaeda were among those who had arrived in the country.

He said at least 1,000 people who arrived on small boats up until the end of 2022 were 'connected to criminality of all kinds' and had arrived claiming to be refugees.

Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Jenrick said: 'In the year before I was immigration minister, more than a dozen known terror suspects crossed the Channel on small boats . By now, that figure is well into the dozens.'

The total figure is up 1 per cent on the number of people who made the crossing by this time last year, but is down 20 per cent on 2022.

Government sources previously dismissed Mr Jenrick's claims that those arriving were 'threats to our communities', who have 'waltzed in' with 'links to Islamic state and Al-Qaeda'.

The Government also described the £700million Rwanda plan, which did nothing to cut migrant Channel crossings, as a 'gimmick'.

Your browser does not support iframes.

A No10 spokeswoman told reporters: 'The cost of sending four volunteers was £700million, so we are very clear that this is a gimmick which saw increases in crossing in the first months of this year.'

The highest number of arrivals in one day this year has so far been 882 in 15 boats on June 18.

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security .

'As we have seen with so many recent devastating tragedies in the Channel, the people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.'

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced this month that £75 million would be used to boost the number of border security officers amid the Government's bid to crack down on people smugglers, using money redirected from the scrapped Rwanda deportation plan.

The cash will also pay for hidden cameras and better monitoring technology as the Home Office sets up its new Border Security Command, led by a former police chief, as it aims to speed up investigations and increase the likelihood of successful prosecutions.

Earlier this year, it was also announced that an extra 100 specialist investigators will be allocated to the National Crime Agency (NCA) as part of efforts to curb Channel crossings.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also said during a visit to Rome that he was 'very interested' in Italy's efforts to curb levels of irregular immigration.

The 'dramatic reductions' in the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea into Italy is something the Government wants to understand, he added.

Your browser does not support iframes.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to smash the criminal gangs that run the crossings , but dinghies have continued to enter British waters since his electoral victory on July 5.

Just last week, eight migrants were killed attempting to make the crossing, while a ten-month old baby was rushed to hospital after being rescued at sea.

French emergency services received a Mayday from a dinghy that got into difficulty off the coast at Ambleteuse, near Calais, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

'Several migrants lost their lives,' said Jacques Billant, the Pas de Calais prefect, as he confirmed eight unidentified migrants were declared dead at the scene .

Some 53 migrants were attempting to reach the UK on the stricken small boat , with 45 surviving the disaster.

Mr Billant said that six people were taken to hospital 'in relative emergency', including a ten-month-old baby with hypothermia.

Survivors of the accident come from Eritrea, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt and Iran, he added.

At least 194 migrants died attempting to cross the English Channel between 2018 and September 2024, according to estimates from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which is part of the UN .

Many of these deaths occurred in the Channel during a crossing, including 80 people known to have drowned .

Following Labour's General Election victory, Sir Keir and France's President Emmanuel Macron pledged to strengthen 'cooperation' in handling the surge in undocumented migrant numbers.

The PM's plan involves creating a new Border Security Command, bringing together existing immigration units given new 'counter-terrorism style' powers.

He has also denied that scrapping the Rwanda scheme had made the situation worse, previously saying there was 'no link' between ditching the plan and the number of arrivals.