𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Britain will give police officers in the Western Balkans drones and night vision goggles to “slash” the number of illegal migrants reaching northern France, the Daily Express can reveal. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood vowed to “deploy the most sophisticated technology” in the region, because it is one of the most popular smuggling routes.

At least 22,000 people are feared to have passed through it last year. And the National Crime Agency will begin providing law enforcement agencies in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia with “real-time” intelligence on the smuggling kingpins operating in the region. A Whitehall source said “we know who some of these smugglers are” but cannot arrest them unless they travel into Britain, or an area where the UK has stronger law enforcement partnerships.

The expansion of the EU’s open borders scheme – the Schengen Zone – on January 1 has led to a new “route” through the Balkan region.

Smugglers are exploiting the changes by taking migrants through Bulgaria into Romania, the Daily Express understands.

Criminal gangs are effectively able to exploit the 400-mile land border and avoid stringent checks along Bulgaria’s frontier with Serbia.

They can then cross into Serbia, it is understood, where smuggling gangs kidnap and hold migrants to ransom.

Law enforcement chiefs are said to be particularly concerned by this development after years of intensive efforts to stop networks crossing from Turkey into Bulgaria and Greece.

Ms Mahmood said: “The UK is working with our Balkan friends to slash the rates of illegal migrants that end up on British soil.

“That is why we will deploy the most sophisticated technology to track down illegal migrants in the region – including drones and night vision goggles.

“I have pledged to do whatever it takes to secure our borders. That is exactly what I am doing.”

Martin Hewitt, border security commander, said: “Illegal migration and organised immigration crime are global challenges that demand global solutions.

“No single country can tackle this alone.

“By working together – sharing intelligence and aligning strategies – we will target and dismantle the criminal gangs who exploit the vulnerable and negatively impact our communities.”

The NCA will share and receive more intelligence on the potential flow of migrants through the Western Balkans so it can prevent more from reaching the French coast in the future.

Mr Hewitt met his counterparts from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia in Sarajevo on October 9.

He “secured support for more joint action from his operational counterparts” in the Western Balkans to prevent the flow of migrants through Europe and beyond, sources said.

The group agreed to share activities on the smuggling gangs, to prevent them being able to freely move thousands of people across the continent.

It comes after Ms Mahmood admitted the Government cannot control the UK’s borders.

The Home Secretary, hosting the Western Balkans Interior Ministers meeting, said that illegal migration is eroding trust in politicians and the “state itself”.

More than 1,000 boats have now made the crossing since Labour came into power in July 2024, with 59,607 people picked up since Sir Keir Starmer took office.

The Home Secretary said: “The public rightly expect that their Government will be able to determine who enters their country, and who must leave.

“Today, in this country, and I know in many if not all of yours, that is not the case.

“And the failure to bring order to our borders is eroding trust not just in us as political leaders … But in the credibility of the state itself.”