The Home Office has announced plans to deploy hidden automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras throughout Europe to combat gangs involved in people smuggling in small boats across the Channel. The initiative will include the use of both static and mobile cameras mounted on marked and unmarked police vehicles along key routes typically used for people smuggling. A six-month trial, budgeted at £80,000, aims to monitor the movements of vehicles suspected of facilitating these crossings.
According to a source from the Home Office, the operation has been made possible through cooperative agreements with European allies, enhancing the capabilities of the UK's new Border Security Command. The source highlighted that collaboration with European counterparts is crucial to tackling this shared threat and dismantling the criminal networks operating across Europe. The data collected by the ANPR cameras will be analysed using artificial intelligence (AI) software to identify common routes and potentially uncover locations where smuggling operations are conducted, including warehouses for storing engines and dinghies.
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