Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) arrested a 25-year-old Iraqi national in Preston in the north of England on Wednesday (July 10). The man, stated a press release from the NCA, "is suspected of being involved in planning the movement of migrants across Europe and into northern France, with their end destination being the UK."

The man was detained on Wednesday morning by NCA investigators and held on suspicions of "facilitating illegal immigration and obtaining leave to remain by deception." Police say he is now being questioned.

In May, another arrest was made in the same investigation, also in Preston, involving an Iranian national aged 34, as reported by the NCA. He was charged with "facilitating illegal immigration in relation to two small boat crossings made in November and December 2023 and remains in custody until his next court appearance at Preston Crown Court on September 2."

Al Mullen, a senior investigating officer at the NCA, said it was believed the two men were both involved in organizing small boat crossings.

Mullen added that, "tackling organized immigration crime remains a priority for the NCA, and we are determined to do all we can, working with partners in the UK, Europe and beyond, to disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks involved."

New government, new policies?

Since last Friday (July 5), Britain has been governed by a Labour administration. Although the new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants to break the criminal gangs that facilitate the small boat crossings, he has steered clear of using similar language to his predecessor, Rishi Sunak, whose promise was to "stop the boats," crossing the Channel to the UK with migrants on board.

When questioned by journalists on his way to a NATO summit in Washington, Starmer paused when asked if he would continue to try and stop the boats, and was, according to the Independent, "silent until another question came."

Starmer called the former government’s Rwanda policy a "gimmick," and admitted that before taking office there had been "record numbers" of migrants arriving via the Channel crossing. "Unfortunately, that is what we’ve inherited –- we can’t change that overnight," Starmer told journalists.

Since the beginning of January this year, more than 14,000 people have made the crossing and arrived in the UK. The new government already announced at the weekend that the Conservative’s Rwanda policy was "dead and buried."

When pressed by journalists on how he was going to tackle the problem, he said, according to the Independent, that a "rich mix of security and intelligence, alongside prosecutors, alongside law enforcement," would help break the gangs' power.

Starmer added: "What I’m not going to do is pick an arbitrary date, an arbitrary number because that hasn’t worked in the past. But I do want to be clear that my intention is to break down the gangs that are running this vile trade putting people into boats on the coast of France. Nobody but nobody should be making that crossing."

Establishing a new unit -- Border Security Command

On July 7, the new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, set out the first steps to establishing a new "UK Border Security Command" unit (BSC).

According to a press release from the Home Office, the BSC will "strengthen Britain’s border security and smash the criminal smuggling gangs, making millions out of small boat crossings." The new unit is looking to recruit a leader with experience at senior levels of policing, intelligence or the military. Authorities hope that person will take up the post in the "coming weeks."

The Home Secretary is also putting together a "core team in the Home Office” to coordinate the different strands of migration policy. Cooper intends to prepare "new counter-terror style powers and stronger measures to tackle organized immigration crime."

The new unit intends to look at how the latest routes are evolving and the methods and tactics used by people smuggling gangs in order to then launch a "major law enforcement drive over the coming months."

They hope to place some of their investigation teams "across Europe" in order to "disrupt the activities of the criminal smuggling gangs and ensure those profiting from people smuggling are brought to justice."

Cooper added that it was important to her and her team to "tackle the root of the problem."