49 arrests in three-day Operation Comby action on Irish border routes

Immigration Enforcement reports 49 arrests between 22 and 24 September 2026 at UK ports, part of Operation Comby, which targets abuse of the Common Travel Area (CTA) by people travelling from Ireland.

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Immigration Enforcement and other law enforcement agencies carried out targeted action from Tuesday 22 September to Thursday 24 September 2026. They patrolled seaports, airports, roads and rail networks across Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. The action resulted in 49 arrests.

The activity forms part of Operation Comby, a multi-agency operation aimed at people who have passed illegally from Ireland to the UK. The Home Office says Operation Comby has led to more than 250 arrests of organised criminals and immigration offenders since the election, and 113 of those people have been removed. It also reports the seizure of almost £500,000 in cash.

The CTA is a long-standing arrangement between the UK and Ireland that allows British and Irish citizens to move freely between the two countries. The operation aims to stop abuse of it.

Operation Comby runs alongside Operation Gull, which provides routine deployments at Northern Irish ports and airports. The Home Office says Operation Gull has led to almost 1,000 arrests in the last year.

The source gives two examples from the three days:

• At Belfast International Airport, two Romanian women were arrested as illegal entrants after travelling from Ireland to Northern Ireland without the required permissions. Further checks identified them as possible victims of people trafficking. One was detained for removal to Romania and the other returned voluntarily to Ireland.
• At Belfast Port, Belfast Harbour Police stopped a vehicle carrying four Romanian nationals after intelligence sharing. A search found counterfeit Apple products worth £130,000. All four were arrested and face removal from the UK.

Between July 2024 and June 2026, Immigration Enforcement conducted almost 3,000 enforcement visits in Northern Ireland, resulting in more than 2,400 arrests. Nearly 1,000 people have since been returned, almost 500 of them to Ireland.

The Home Office also states that the Home Secretary has announced plans to double the Immigration Enforcement budget by 2028/29 and increase workforce numbers by 60%. It reports that more than 80,000 immigration offenders and foreign criminals have been removed from the UK since the election.

Sources

• Nearly 50 arrests in people smuggling crackdown at Irish border, GOV.UK, Home Office