Dramatic moment Albanian drug dealer is arrested as he tried to sneak into UK through the back door weeks after his deportation

An Albanian drug dealer has already tried to enter the UK via a backdoor bus, just weeks after he was deported.

The gang member, who had spent 20 months in a British prison for hemp cultivation, was one of the people caught by Home Office immigration enforcement officers in a huge rural crackdown this week.

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The Sun on Sunday joined the team on patrol as they worked with senior intelligence officers to catch criminals wanted for murder, gang leaders and thugs carrying £400,000 in cash who were stopped when they tried to sneak in. the open Common Travel Area between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Ministry of the Interior officials worked with the Police Northern Ireland service to stop the convicted Albanian gangster as he travelled on a bus from Dublin to Belfast after flying from Albania to the Republic earlier that day on a false Greek passport.

Two hours earlier, the team had received information about two potential immigrant criminals who had boarded a bus north in the Irish capital.

An hour before the pair and the team met, a check revealed that one of them was a gang member who had already been in prison in the UK for 20 months.

He was only deported last month and was already trying to enter the country illegally to stay under the radar of law enforcement.

After a race Walking through the town to the bus stop in the town centre, we arrived just in time to join the PSNI, who had been notified.

The bus stopped and six police officers rushed aboard.

Stunned commuters and other passengers ran away before the two suspects were led outside by police for questioning.

The drug dealer was taken into custody for breaching his deportation order, while the friend he was travelling with was held by immigration officials pending deportation from the UK.

Thanks to an agreement between the British government and Albania, the pair can easily be sent back on a regular deportation flight. Over the past year, 6,000 Albanians have already been deported.

The operation was one of dozens carried out this week by the National Crime Agency, the Garda, the PSNI, HM Revenue And Customs, Interpol and regional police forces to disrupt organised crime groups.

A total of 31 arrests were made in the three days of the operation as criminals exploited the route to the UK.

Fourteen cases involved immigration offences involving seven Albanians, while the other offenders were from Jordan, Ukraine, Georgia, IranSyria, Sudan and China.

The day before the bus arrests, the same team had arrested a Somali man who was staying at an asylum seekers’ centre in Belfast city centre, suspected of a gang-related murder in Denmark in 2022.

The Sun on Sunday joined the teams in the departure lounge of Belfast City Airport. It wasn’t long before they spotted a man in a cafe near the airport entrance, clearly afraid of being questioned.

After telling officers he had left his passport in the taxi, he was found to be carrying three false IDs — two Austrian and one Polish — all in different names. He was charged with having false documents and taken into custody.

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The Good Friday Agreement ensures that there are no security barriers or checkpoints on the land border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Criminals seeking to reach the UK are taking advantage of this by flying from mainland Europe to Dublin on visitor visas or work permits that are due to expire soon. to ride north.

From there they can disappear by taking a ferry across the Irish Sea to Liverpool or Loch Ryan in Scotland or to the Isle of Man.

Cheapest option

Flights from Belfast to Luton Airport are one of the most abused options by airlines looking to exploit the Common Travel Area, as they are often the cheapest option.

Without border control before boarding, next by ferry or plane, this means there is no record of them entering mainland Britain.

Many people who cannot work legally or claim benefits end up in debt to organised criminal organisations who lure them into shady businesses or local drug gangs.

Johnny Evans, HM Inspector of Immigration for the Home Office in Belfast, told The Sun on Sunday that teams were targeting suspects who posed a threat to UK national security.

Mr Evans said: “We have disrupted criminal groups using the road networks in Northern Ireland, and the airports and ports through which criminal groups attempt to smuggle people to facilitate their illegal immigration into the UK. We are taking action day in, day out to ensure we stay one step ahead of these criminals.”

Border Security and Asylum Minister Dame Angela Eagle said: “This Government will not stand by and watch as criminal gangs exploit vulnerable people, risk their lives and give them false hope of a better life in the UK. We will take the fight to them on all fronts under the leadership of our new Border Security Commander.

“In addition to dismantling the gangs company models“We are also eradicating other routes into the UK to bring them to justice and drastically reduce their profits.”