UK News & Investigations

FOUR Syrian nationals were arrested in Germany as part of a major probe into the supply of equipment to Channel migrant people smugglers. British National Crime Agency (NCA) officers joined international partners to target a network suspected of supplying the equipment to groups behind the dangerous Channel crossings by small boats to the UK. The raids, which took place in the North Rhine-Westphalia region on wednesday morning (March 25 2026), also saw boats and engines seize

Four taxi drivers who were part of a conspiracy to smuggle illegal migrants to France in the back of lorries have been sentenced following a National Crime Agency investigation. Kingpin Madjid Belabes, 54, was estimated to have made nearly £290,000 by orchestrating the plot to smuggle the migrants out of the UK. Belabes, who charged £1,200 a time, arranged the movement of migrants to mainland Europe 26 times between December 2022 and September 2023. He was also seen transport

NEARLY 135,000 asylum seekers entered the UK on student or other visas over the past five years, it has emerged. There has been a surge in asylum applications via legal entry routes, with them making up nearly 40 percent of all claims in 2025, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has admitted. She said tough action is now required as asylum claims from legal routes have more than trebled since 2021 – making up 39 percent of the 100,000 people who applied for asylum last year. In to

TENS of thousands of false asylum claims have been made in the UK each year, the Government has today admitted. Bogus asylum seekers have been lured to our shores by one of the most generous offers to refugees in any country in Western Europe, including permanent access to benefits, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said today, March 2 2026. She made the admissions as she announced sweeping changes that are hoped with prevent people making the hazardous illegal Channel croissing

TRAVELLERS and travelling showmen are cashing in on the UK housing crisis by cramming mobile homes onto their caravan sites and renting them out to anyone in an "illicit" property boom after years of claiming there is a drastic shortage of sites for their own communities. Sites across the country, meant to be occupied by people from the gypsy, traveller or travelling showmen communities under strict planning rules, are increasingly being let out to large numbers of non-travel

THE first illegal migrants have moved into the former military site Crowborough training camp in East Sussex, as part of the government’s mission to try to end the use of expensive hotels.   The site accommodates single adult male illegal migrants who are claiming asylum in the UK in basic, safe accommodation while their claims are being assessed. The first 27 migrants have been moved into the site which will be scaled up to more than 500.  They will only be housed there for 

A man who supplied thousands of boats and engines to people smugglers operating in the English Channel has been jailed, following a joint operation involving the National Crime Agency and Belgian authorities. Turkish national Adem Savas, 45, (above) admitted offences of people smuggling and being a member of an organised crime group on 3 December following a hearing at a court in Bruges. The same court today sentenced him to 11 years in prison, and a fine of 400,000 euros. Th

AN ALBANIAN money launderer who was involved in trying to move £8 million cash from the UK, could keep his British Citizenship if the Home Office fails to convince Supreme Court judges that its revocation was lawful. Gjelosh Kolicaj, 44, (above) was born in Albania, but came to the UK in 2005 and was granted the controversail indefinite leave to remain. On 5 February 2009, he was naturalised as a British citizen and became a dual national with Albian and British citizenship.

A MAN who is suspected of raping a child in France has been arrested in Liverpool by the National Crime Agency. Sri Lankan national Sujanth Ketheeswararasa, 30, was detained by specialist officers from the agency's National Extradition Unit in Liverpool city centre, on Wednesday, 19 November 2025. Ketheeswararasa is wanted by the French authorities for the alleged rape of a young girl. He appeared at court in London on Thursday for extradition proceedings to begin and was rem

AN Iraqi wanted in Germany in connection with rape and murder was found in the UK. In the latest of cases of migrant fugitives from the EU (mostly Germany) found in the UK, Sadeq al Saed Ahmed, , was arrested on 25 October 2025 in the Euston area of London on an arrest warrant from Germany. He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court and was remanded in custody for extradition proceedings. A CPS spokesperson said: "The requested person is sought for alleged offences amounti