UK’s ‘FBI’ warns small boats will still be crossing the Channel illegally for years

SMALL boats are still likely to be crossing the Channel illegally for some time to come, the head of the NCA has warned.

Asked if they could end the journeys in the next couple of years, National Crime Agency boss Graeme Biggar said: “I think close to zero is a very hard thing to promise.”

He told the BBC it was “very difficult” to be confident of whittling down the numbers because “so many things are changing” on the continent.

His comments came after 3,197 people made the dangerous journey in the last 14 days — with 307 in just five boats on Wednesday alone.

The total illegal arrivals since January stands at 26,669 — up 19 per cent on this time last year.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “Labour have turned the small boats crisis into the big boats crisis.

“The average number of illegal migrants on a boat has hit 65 and rising.

“People smugglers are emboldened.

“You can’t arrest your way out of this - you need a deterrent that breaks the entire business model.”

Labour have vowed to smash the smuggling gangs with a new Border Security Command and by giving counter-terror powers to the NCA.

Sir Keir Starmer was in Hungary’s capital Budapest yesterday to strike a deal to boost intelligence sharing on smuggling routes through the Western Balkans.