Iranian man suspected of facilitating smuggling of 19 illegal migrants into Britain arrested

The man, who remains in custody for questioning, is suspected of piloting a small boat, which brought 18 adults and one child to the UK from France in August 2025.

Images of the packed dinghy taken shortly before it was intercepted in the English Channel show the stern of the over-crowded vessel low in the water, struggling to stay afloat.

The circumstances surrounding the crossing, and others who may have been behind it, remain under investigation by the NCA.

NCA Senior Investigating Officer John Purcell said: "The image of this boat in the water demonstrates just how dangerous these crossings are, and how those involved in organising them don’t care about the risks to those they transport.

“Working with partners we continue to do all we can to disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks who profit from them."

The NCA has pledged to devote more resource than ever before to tackling organised immigration crime, with more than 100 investigations ongoing.

Between April 2025-26, the NCA was involved in around 300 arrests related to immigration crime - a 55 per cent increase on the previous year.

An investigation published this week found people smugglers are using the bank accounts of UK-registered companies as a way for migrants to pay for illegal Channel crossings

An undercover investigator posed as a migrant trying to cross the Channel illegally in Dunkirk, told by a smuggler that money exchange shops in the UK could take payment for the crossing.

The companies uncovered are all listed at Companies House, the official government registry for businesses.

Authorities have recovered only 10 per cent of the funds that have been made by convicted people smugglers since 2020, according to information from the Crown Prosecution Service.

In that same timeframe, courts ruled 45 people smugglers convicted in the UK made £16million from their crimes.

The CPS said people smugglers are “only in it for the money”, and they are working to remove their profits “wherever possible.”

The investigation comes as GB News exclusively revealed 200,000 illegal migrants had crossed the Channel since records began in 2018.

Also this week, the Home Office announced a £20million-backed National Crime Agency cell has been tasked with co-ordinating a national response to "rogue barber shops, vape stores, mini-marts and sweet shops".

The Home Office said 75 new police officers will be recruited across the country, who will be dedicated to tackling high street gangs involved in organised crime and people smuggling.

As many as half of convenience stores and vape retailers in some areas are estimated to have links with organised crime, according to Trading Standards.