Illegal Migrants Arrested by Police After They Were Caught Working Using a Shocking Trick That Left Officers Surprised

Police and immigration officers in London have arrested a group of migrants who were allegedly working illegally in the UK by using the identities of legitimate delivery drivers.

The early morning operation took place at a caravan site in south London on Thursday. Officers from immigration enforcement, working alongside the Metropolitan Police, carried out the raid as part of a wider effort to crack down on illegal working across the country.

During the operation, authorities arrested 18 migrants who were believed to be living and working in the UK without the proper legal permission. The group included nine women and nine men from Brazil, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

Investigators said some of the migrants had been working in the delivery sector by using other people’s driver accounts and identification details. In practice, this meant that a registered delivery driver would allow someone else to log into their account and carry out deliveries on their behalf. The migrants would then complete food delivery jobs using those accounts even though they did not have the legal right to work in the UK.

Officials described this method as “substituting,” where a person who is legally registered for delivery work allows another individual to use their identity to perform the job. Authorities believe this arrangement allowed people without work authorization to take part in gig-economy jobs while avoiding the normal employment checks.

All 18 migrants were arrested on suspicion of overstaying their visas and working illegally. After their arrests, eight of them were taken into immigration detention and are now facing possible removal from the UK. The remaining ten individuals were released on immigration bail while officials continue to investigate the case.

Government officials say the raid is part of a much larger nationwide effort to tackle illegal employment and reduce what they describe as incentives that attract people to stay in the country without permission.

Alex Norris, the UK’s border security and asylum minister, said the government is increasing enforcement action against illegal working. He said authorities are determined to arrest and remove people who have no legal right to remain in the UK.

He explained that immigration enforcement activity has been increased significantly, with officers carrying out more raids than ever before. According to government figures, more migrants have been arrested for illegal working in the past 18 months than at any other time in British history.

Over the last year and a half, immigration enforcement teams carried out more than 17,400 inspections and raids on businesses suspected of employing people illegally. These operations targeted places such as barbershops, car washes, nail salons, restaurants, and takeaway shops.

The number of raids represents a 77 percent increase compared with the previous 18-month period, when there were just under 9,900 inspections.

As a result of these operations, more than 12,300 migrants were arrested for allegedly working in the UK’s underground or “black” economy. This is an 83 percent increase compared with the previous period, when about 6,725 arrests were recorded.

The government is also introducing stricter rules for companies that hire workers in the gig economy, especially in sectors such as food delivery and zero-hour contract work.

Under the new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, companies that operate gig-economy platforms will now be legally required to check whether the people using their accounts have the legal right to work in the UK.

Previously, companies in this sector were not always required to carry out these checks because workers were often classified as independent contractors rather than employees.

The new law aims to close that gap by making companies responsible for verifying the identity and work eligibility of anyone working through their platform.

Businesses that fail to carry out proper checks could face serious penalties. These include fines of up to £60,000 for each illegal worker found, possible disqualification of company directors, and even prison sentences of up to five years in the most serious cases.

Kelly Griffiths, an immigration enforcement inspector, praised the officers involved in the south London operation. She said the raid showed the strong cooperation between immigration enforcement teams and the Metropolitan Police.

Griffiths said the operation should send a clear warning to anyone involved in illegal working schemes that authorities are actively investigating and will take action.

She added that enforcement teams will continue working day and night to ensure that immigration laws are respected and that people who break those rules face the consequences.