Foreign criminals and illegal entrants to the UK removed to Albania

Yesterday (Thursday 11 August) the UK government removed 20 foreign criminals on a charter flight to Albania.

An individual who overstayed their leave in the UK illegally and two individuals with failed asylum claims were also removed. This included an individual who arrived illegally via a small boat in March.

The foreign national offenders removed had received combined prison sentences of more than 46 years and were convicted of crimes including possession with intent to supply class A drugs, possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and production of a class B drug.

Individuals returned on this flight to Albania include:

• an individual sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and possession with intent to supply class A drugs

• an individual sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for possession with intent to supply class A drugs

• an individual sentenced to over five years’ imprisonment for conspiring/supplying class B controlled drugs

Home Secretary Priti Patel said:

These criminals have violated our laws and our values, and we will stop at nothing to remove those with no right to be here. They are responsible for appalling offences including involvement in the supply of class A drugs, which has a devastating impact on people, their families and our communities.

Since 2021, we have removed nearly 1,000 Albanian foreign national offenders, including some who crossed the Channel illegally to come to the UK.

The British public should be in no doubt of my determination to make our streets safer by continuing to remove foreign criminals. Our new Nationality and Borders Act will help end the cycle of last-minute claims and appeals that can delay removals.

This is part of a regular schedule of returns to multiple countries, to remove those with no right to remain in the UK.

In July 2022, 243 foreign national offenders were removed from the UK on both charter and scheduled flights.

Since January 2019 the UK has removed 10,741 foreign national offenders (to year ending December 2021).

The Nationality and Borders Act will further deter illegal entry into the UK, breaking the business model of people-smuggling networks and speed up the removal of those with no right to be in the UK.