Immigration Enforcement made 49 arrests during a focused sweep at ports over three days, aimed at stopping attempts to circumvent UK immigration laws.

Between 22 and 24 September, officers patrolled seaports, airports, roads and rail networks across Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales.

The activity formed part of Operation Comby, a multi-agency effort targeting individuals who have crossed illegally from Ireland into the UK. Since the election, the operation has resulted in more than 250 arrests of organised criminals and immigration offenders, with 113 already removed, and has led to the seizure of almost half a million pounds in cash.

The crackdown is intended to prevent abuse of the Common Travel Area (CTA) between the United Kingdom and Ireland, a long-standing arrangement that allows British and Irish citizens to travel freely between the two countries. It works alongside Immigration Enforcement's Operation Gull, which carries out routine deployments across Northern Ireland's ports and airports and has led to almost 1,000 arrests in the past year.

Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Anna Turley said: "We are bearing down on these organised criminal gangs who operate on wicked lies and deception.

"Individuals who think they can get round our laws will quickly find out that they will not be successful.

"This operation is a very clear example of Immigration Enforcement's round the clock work disrupt these criminal gangs and remove those with no right to be in the UK." At Belfast International Airport, two Romanian women were arrested as illegal entrants after travelling from Ireland to Northern Ireland without the required permissions. Further checks identified them as potential victims of people trafficking, and intelligence was obtained on the criminals who pressured them into the journey. One was detained for removal to Romania, while the other voluntarily returned to Ireland.

Following intelligence sharing, Belfast Harbour Police stopped a vehicle at Belfast Port carrying four Romanian nationals. A search uncovered £130,000 worth of counterfeit Apple products. All four were arrested and now face removal from the UK.

Director of Enforcement, Compliance and Crime, Eddy Montgomery, said: "As part of our wider crackdown on abuse of the Common Travel Area, Operation Comby is delivering an intelligence-led approach to disrupting Organised Immigration Crime, targeting criminal networks that exploit these routes.

"Immigration crime can take many forms, but at the heart of what we do is protecting vulnerable people and ensuring the criminal gangs who exploit them are brought down."

Between July 2024 and June 2026, Immigration Enforcement carried out almost 3,000 enforcement visits in Northern Ireland, leading to over 2,400 arrests. Nearly 1,000 people have subsequently been returned, with almost 500 of these to Ireland.

The Home Secretary has also announced plans to double the Immigration Enforcement budget by 2028/29 and increase workforce numbers by 60%, enabling tens of thousands more raids, arrests and removals of those with no right to be in the UK. Since the election, more than 80,000 immigration offenders and foreign criminals have been removed from the UK.