12/03/2010

E-borders Snares Criminal At Gatwick

A convicted foreign drug smuggler has been stopped from entering the UK after the Border Agency's hi-tech e-borders monitoring system flagged his impending arrival on a Gatwick bound flight.

The UK Border Agency refused entry to the 40-year-old Lithuanian national on arrival from Vilnius because he was deported in April 2002 having been convicted in 1998 of attempting to smuggle cocaine into the UK.

The e-Borders system electronically checks passenger data before they set foot on a plane. It matches passengers against watchlists at the e-Borders centre control room.

Details are then sent to UK Border Agency officers.

Nick Crouch, UK Border Agency Assistant Director at Gatwick Airport, said: "The fact that UK Border Agency officers were able to identify and target a convicted drug smuggler before he landed at Gatwick airport clearly demonstrates the value of e-borders.

"It means we can count people in and out of the UK and capture known criminals, terror suspects and illegal migrants while gathering evidence against smugglers and people traffickers.

"e-Borders has already had a huge impact, helping us catch more than 5,400 criminals including rapists and murderers."

(PR)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

05 June 2015
68 Immigrants Found In Shipping Container
Sixty-eight immigrants have been found locked inside a shipping container at a port in Essex, it has been confirmed. East of England Ambulance Service said they had been discovered at Harwich International Port at around 10pm on Thursday, 4 June.
24 January 2013
Report Finds 10-Year Border Agency Backlog
A UK Border Agency backlog of more that 16,000 applicants has been described as "completely unacceptable" by the chief inspector of borders and immigration.
22 July 2011
Charges Follows Sham Marriage In Belfast
A bride and groom arrested as they prepared to take their wedding vows on Wednesday have been charged with immigration offences.
30 June 2011
Pensions Strike Kicks Off
Union members are taking industrial action today. NUT members are walking out today alongside colleagues in the ATL, lecturers in the UCU and civil servants in the PCS. The strike will also affect Border Agency staff in the UK. People travelling into the UK today may experience delays at border control.
28 June 2011
Border Agency To Strike
The Public and Commercial Services union has called a one-day strike beginning at 6pm on Wednesday and ending at midnight on Thursday 30 June. The strike will affect UK Border Agency staff in the UK, however the priorities of the agency will remain the security of the UK border and managing migration.