Keir Starmer will today outline his ‘personal mission’ to take down drug gangs using new counter-terrorism tactics.

The Prime Minister – who scrapped the Conservatives’ Rwandan asylum deal as one of her first acts in office – will vow to tackle the “vile trade” in migrants across the Channel.

Amid criticism from the Tories over his “poor” record on illegal migrants – and the rise in cross-Channel arrivals – Sir Keir is set to embark on a raft of new measures.

Labour’s new Border Security Command (BSC) will get increased powers to stop and search suspected people smugglers, including seizing phones and other devices, according to the Daily Mail.

Officers will be able to obtain search warrants to seize items from premises even before a crime takes place – powers currently reserved only for counter-terrorism cases.

Prime Minister to unveil ‘personal mission’ to destroy drug gangs using anti-terror tactics

Labour’s new Border Security Command (BSC) will get increased powers to stop and search suspected people smugglers. Pictured: A migrant reacts after boarding a smuggler’s inflatable boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel at Ecault beach in northern France on October 30

Suspected people-traffickers will face invasive financial searches as the law is changed to allow courts to grant permission to search accounts, property and other assets, government sources said.

Serious crime prevention orders will be extended to suspected gang members before they are even convicted to restrict their access to the internet, banking and travel.

Some of the measures will extend the 2000 Terrorism Act to cover immigrant gangs, it is understood, including allowing investigators to copy the contents of suspected smugglers’ electronic devices.

Last night the Tories said the proposals would “mean absolutely nothing” without a wider plan – like Rwanda – to discourage small boat crossings.

Shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly previously said people were dying in the Channel as a direct result of Labour’s “incompetence” and “appalling decision-making”.

He added that the scrapping of the Rwanda plan sent a “massive signal” to smuggling gangs that Britain was “softening up” its border defences, fueling an increase in small boat crossings.

In a bid to counter the criticism, the Prime Minister will today urge world leaders to “wake up” to the scale of the challenge and try to brush up their credentials on the border crisis.

In remarks apparently aimed at left-wing campaigners who have repeatedly tried to block Tory immigration policies, the Prime Minister will say there is “nothing progressive about turning a blind eye” as migrants are lost in the Channel.

Speaking in Glasgow at the annual conference of Interpol, the international police organisation, Sir Keir will also announce that he is doubling funding for the BSC to £150m.

A government spokesman described the smuggling gangs as “a threat to national security”.

Some of the measures will see the Terrorism Act 2000 extended to cover immigrant gangs, it is understood. Pictured: A view of small boats and outboard motors used by people believed to be immigrants to cross the Channel at a warehouse in Dover, Kent

More than 30,000 migrants have made the dangerous journey in small boats across the Channel so far this year (Image: Arrivals last month in Dover, Kent)

Officers will be able to obtain search warrants to seize items from the premises even before a crime takes place, in powers usually reserved for counter-terrorism cases (stock image)

“Keir Starmer will open the gathering in Glasgow today, setting out his personal mission to destroy people-trafficking gangs by resetting Britain’s whole approach to this challenge and stepping up international collaboration to respond to the global scale of the threat,” he added the spokesman.

Since Labor scrapped the deal with Rwanda – which was designed to save lives by discouraging crossings – Canal arrivals have increased month on month.

More than 17,500 migrants have arrived in Britain since the election.

The current account for the year is up 16% to nearly 32,000 compared to the same point last year.

A series of tragic deaths across the Channel in the past three weeks has brought the death toll from 2024 to 59, making it the deadliest year since the crisis began in late 2018.

The Prime Minister is expected to say: “The world needs to wake up to the severity of this challenge.

“I was elected to provide security for the British people. And strong borders are part of that.

“But security does not stop at our borders.

“There is nothing progressive about turning a blind eye as men, women and children die in the Channel.

“This is a vile trade that must be stamped out – wherever it thrives.

“So we’re taking the counter-terrorism approach – which we know works – and applying it to gangs with our new Border Security Command.

“We can end the fragmentation between the police, the Border Force and our intelligence agencies.”

Counter-terrorism powers are to be set out in a future Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Criminal smuggling gangs… have been getting away with this for far too long.

“Our new Border Security Command, with the investment established today, will mean a huge change in the way we target these criminal gangs.”

A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Keir Starmer’s anti-gangs announcement will mean absolutely nothing without a deterrent to stop migrants wanting to make the dangerous journey across the Channel.

“It’s a shame Starmer didn’t recognize the extent of the Channel crisis sooner, as he and the Labor Party voted against numerous measures to stop the gangs while they were in opposition.

“If Starmer continues to ignore the need for a deterrent to stop migrants crossing the Channel, there will be more deaths as more migrants continue to cross.

– They have to get started.

Part of the extra £75m for the BSC will set up a new immigration organized crime intelligence unit to identify key developments contained in police force alerts.

The Prime Minister will also announce a further £24 million for the Home Office next year to tackle serious international organized crime, including drugs and firearms, trafficking, fraud and exploitation.

Some of the cash will fund special prosecutors and operations in the Western Balkans, a key trafficking hub.

Ministers previously announced the BSC would have 300 officers, while the National Crime Agency (NCA) would bring in 100 investigators and intelligence officers to focus on people-trafficking.

NCA chief executive Graeme Biggar said: “We are determined to do everything we can to disrupt and dismantle these networks wherever they operate.”

Interpol’s General Assembly, which is being held in Britain for the first time in more than 50 years, is its governing body and includes law enforcement officers from 196 member states.