UK Working With European Partners to Tackle People Smuggling, Cooper Says

The government is “determined” to go after people smuggling gangs and is working with European partners to tackle the criminal enterprise, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said. Cooper said on Friday that in the past two months, her department has seen encouraging progress in tackling people smuggling at source, with there being “significant seizures” of boats and equipment in Europe. “But there is work to do, and the Border Security Command will bring all the relevant bodies together to investigate, arrest and prosecute these networks, as well as deepen our ties with key international partners,” she said. The home secretary made the comments ahead of chairing a summit on tackling organised illegal immigration crime, attended by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, ministers, and representatives from agencies including the National Crime Agency (NCA), Border Force, and the Crown Prosecution Service....