'Developing fast': Britain facing 'growing' threat from migrant smugglers

The threat people smugglers pose to Britain is "growing" as they will try to exploit war and global crises, a top law enforcement officer has warned.

Richard Chambers, director of organised and emerging crime at Interpol, said the smuggling networks are "developing fast".

And Mr Chambers admitted he couldn't say when the number of migrants crossing the Channel would begin to fall.

Growing tensions around the world "fuel a lot of this activity because the reality is, people seek a better place of safety", he said, adding: "Organised crime groups exploit that. They exploit those vulnerabilities, and they don't care about the consequences."

This comes as more than 50 migrants were rescued in the English Channel while several bodies were found floating at sea.

The French coastguard said 51 people were rescued after a boat got into difficulty when its engine failed off the coast of Audresselles, northern France, overnight on Monday into Tuesday.

The group was met by emergency services at Boulogne-sur-Mer quayside and taken to safety.

Meanwhile a ferry reported seeing a body adrift off the coast of Calais on Tuesday, prompting a search by a French patrol boat which led to the discovery of two bodies.

Richard Chambers, the law enforcement agency's director of organised and emerging crime, said "everyone" is concerned about the sheer number of migrants crossing the Channel to the UK, describing the more than 31,000 who have made the journey so far this year as "significant".

Asked how long it would take to see such enforcement activity leading to fewer crossings, he said: "That is a really hard question to answer."

Interpol will "absolutely be playing our role to make that difference. But it's not up to us alone.

"It's not going to happen overnight, but it's going to continue to be a massive coordinated effort by many partners".

The UK was among 116 countries and territories to take part in Interpol's week-long Operation Liberterra II, resulting in 2,517 arrests being made around the globe.

Some 3,222 potential victims of human trafficking were rescued and 17,793 irregular migrants also identified as part of raids carried out at the end of September and beginning of October.

Operation Liberterra II "told us that this particular crime type is very diverse", Mr Chambers said. "It's developing. It's developing fast. It's a growing issue."

The problem is "more than any one country", he said as he told how the operation shone the "spotlight on the threat that human trafficking presents to the globe".

Speaking from the general assembly on Wednesday, he said: "We heard from the UK Prime Minister earlier this week about how important this issue is. So the UK has a very significant role to play in this effort."

Sir Keir "made a very clear statement around the priority that his Government places upon this issue, and that comes with our full support to assist law enforcement and jurisdictions globally to follow with more operations", he added.

And the results demonstrate the significance of what is, without doubt, a growing threat", Mr Chambers said, adding that he was "blown away" by the sheer scale of the problem given the number of potential victims that were identified as well as the number of the irregular migrants and arrests made.

During the operation, Tunisian authorities intercepted 27 people, including 21 children, who were trying to travel to the UK "under the pretence of a language study trip", Interpol said.

This led to three suspects being arrested after the National Crime Agency (NCA) found them living in the UK. They are now facing prosecution for smuggling charges.

In total nine people were arrested in the UK as part of the operation as the NCA sought out suspects wanted in Belgium, Germany, France and Romania for people smuggling, human trafficking and modern slavery offences.

Raids took place in Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and Kent, the NCA said.

The results of the operation emerged after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vowed the Government would "treat people smugglers like terrorists" while announcing an extra £75 million for his border security command during a speech at the Interpol general assembly in Glasgow.