British border police and Irish forces work together on drug trafficking operations

British home officer Seema Malhotra said 'we're going to leave no stone unturned' when border force officers work across the North Sea to the Celtic sea on Irish vessels with gardaí. Picture: Stock

British border police have been deployed in Ireland to work alongside Irish law enforcement on Irish vessels to combat international drug trafficking, the British home office minister has said.

Seema Malhotra was commenting on increased intelligence gathering and operational activity between British forces and agencies in the EU, including Ireland.

She said UK Border Force officers have been deployed in Ireland to operate aboard Irish vessels covering the Celtic Sea, which has been highlighted as an area at "biggest risk".

During a visit to the force's operations in Portsmouth, England, Ms Malhotra said the "reset" of relations between Britain and the EU since Labour came into power had enabled the sharing of intelligence and resources to tackle the international drug trade.

She said: "What we have seen since the project has been launched is the way we're working together, and part of that is the increased trust in our relationships and the increased intelligence sharing.

"The border force are working alongside Belgium and Dutch counterparts, making sure that we're sharing that intelligence to disrupt the activity of these criminal gangs.” 

In relation to Ireland, she said: "It's really important that we do that, because working across from the North Sea all the way to the Celtic Sea with border force officers also on Irish vessels, we're making sure that we leave no stone unturned, leave nowhere for criminal gangs to hide.

"If we are to tackle this international criminal activity, we've got to do that by working together much more strongly.

"That's why the reset of the relationship that we've got with the European Union is really important in the interests of all of our nations, to make sure that all of our nations, our citizens, are protected from these international criminal gangs."

The Irish Examiner has sought comment from An Garda Síochána about the arrangement.

Cocaine smugglers

UK Border Force officers have been involved in the operation led by the Belgian authorities, which has targeted drug smugglers operating in the eastern Channel, southern North Sea, as well as elsewhere in European waters.

Organised crime gangs smuggling large quantities of cocaine from South America and West Africa have been the focus of the international operation, which has involved sharing intelligence about suspicious vessels and carrying out co-ordinated sea patrols.

The UK Border Force vessels have worked alongside Belgian and Dutch ships, and Operation White Sea — which ran in September 2024 and June 2025 — has led to the seizure of more 3.3tonnes of cocaine and 13 arrests.

These drugs would have had a street value of approximately £66m (€76m), according to the UK Home Office.

Ms Malhotra said that similar "increasing co-operation" with European countries and beyond such as France, Bulgaria, and Iraq was helping to tackle people-smuggling gangs.

She said: "This is really important because this, again, is an international problem. These are international gangs. They have been taking advantage of international gaps in our security and co-operation.

"That's why the way we work together is about closing these gaps so that they can no longer be exploited by these international criminal gangs who are putting lives at risk and undermining our border security."

• Additional reporting by PA