𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Illegal immigrants have been detained on the Kent coastline just days after the Home Office warned criminals gangs were adapting to police crackdowns.

It comes after it was reported people smugglers were even facing delays getting boats and engines to safehouses because of the war in the Middle East.

Analysts believed that pressure has grown on traffickers’ supply chains, which has been fuelled by crackdowns on the continent.

Yet despite this a boat was able to make the dangerous sea crossing this morning, leaving at least five people on the coastline.

Kent Police said they had been made aware by the Coastguard of an “incident” involving the vessel at 9.26am Monday morning.

A spokesman said: “Patrols attended and five people were detained and passed to Border Security Command officers.”

A Home Office spokesperson described the incident as “isolated and rare”, praising officers for responding quickly.

They added: “There is an ongoing investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

In the first six months of 2026, the number of people arriving in the UK by small boat fell 41% and the number of boats 47% compared to the previous year.

The number of arrests linked to organised immigration crime in the year to the end of April 2026 rose by more than 55%, and since late 2023, more than 1,600 boats or engines have been seized.

Since 2021, around 40,000 posts, pages or accounts linked to people smuggling have also been removed from social media.

Around 140 migrants were brought into Portsmouth last Sunday after smugglers launched a dinghy from a beach in the Cherbourg area.

This prompted fears the Channel crisis was entering a terrifying new phase, which could see arrivals brought into different towns along the south coast.

It prompted warnings of an “invasion” of other coastal towns, such as Brighton, Southampton or Weymouth as smugglers change their tactics to exploit weak points in the border.