Immigration Enforcement has arrested 49 individuals across a three-day operation targeting organised criminal networks engaged in illegally transporting people from the Republic of Ireland into the United Kingdom.
The enforcement action, conducted between 22 and 24 September, forms part of Operation Comby, a coordinated multi-agency initiative designed to dismantle abuse of the Common Travel Area (CTA) that exists between Ireland and Northern Ireland. Law enforcement personnel deployed across ports, roads and rail networks in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales to intercept those circumventing UK immigration regulations.
The Common Travel Area permits citizens of both the United Kingdom and Ireland to move between the two countries without a passport as a formal requirement, a provision that criminal gangs have exploited to facilitate illegal migration.
Broader enforcement results since July 2024
Operation Comby has yielded substantial results since its inception in July 2024. According to the Home Office, the operation has led to the arrest of over 250 organised criminals and immigration offenders, of whom 113 have been removed from the UK. The operation has also resulted in the seizure of nearly half a million pounds in cash.
From July 2024 to June 2026, Immigration Enforcement conducted almost 3,000 enforcement visits in Northern Ireland, resulting in more than 2,400 arrests, according to official figures. Nearly 1,000 people were subsequently returned, including almost 500 to Ireland.
Operation Gull and complementary enforcement
Operation Comby works in tandem with Immigration Enforcement's Operation Gull, which provides routine deployments across Northern Irish ports and airports to tackle ongoing abuse of the CTA. Operation Gull has resulted in almost 1,000 arrests over the past year.
Individual cases and trafficking concerns
The latest operation has uncovered evidence of human trafficking and criminal exploitation. At Belfast International Airport, two Romanian women were arrested as illegal entrants to the UK after travelling from Ireland to Northern Ireland without the required permissions. The Home Office identified them as possible victims of people trafficking and gathered intelligence on the criminals responsible for coercing them into the journey. One woman was detained for removal to Romania, while the other returned voluntarily to Ireland.
In a separate incident at Belfast Port, Belfast Harbour Police stopped a vehicle carrying four Romanian nationals following intelligence sharing. A search of the vehicle revealed £130,000 worth of counterfeit Apple products. All four individuals were arrested and now face removal from the UK.
Government response and policy expansion
Anna Turley, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, commented on the enforcement action:
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.
Eddy Montgomery, Director of Enforcement, Compliance and Crime, added:
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.
The latest arrests reflect a significant escalation in immigration enforcement activity. According to the Home Office, organised immigration crime arrests have surged by 74% in recent months.
Planned expansion of enforcement capacity
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced plans to double the Immigration Enforcement budget by 2028/29 and increase workforce numbers by 60%. This expansion is expected to result in tens of thousands more raids, arrests and removals of individuals without legal entitlement to remain in the UK.
The current operation builds on previous enforcement successes. A comparable three-day people-smuggling operation in May 2025 resulted in 33 arrests, £17,000 in suspected illicit assets seized and a heavy goods vehicle detained over an outstanding £144,000 clandestine-entrants penalty.
Key Facts
- 49 arrests made across three days of targeted enforcement between 22 and 24 September
- Operation Comby has resulted in over 250 arrests and 113 removals since July 2024
- Nearly half a million pounds in cash seized during the operation
- Two Romanian women identified as possible trafficking victims at Belfast International Airport
- Organised immigration crime arrests have risen by 74% in the enforcement period
