UK leader tells Interpol meeting world must ‘wake up’ to threat from people-smugglers

Associated Pres

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he will double funding for Britain’s border security agency and treat people-smuggling gangs like terror networks. It’s part of efforts to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats. Starmer told a meeting of the international police organization Interpol that “the world needs to wake up to the severity of this challenge.” The former prosecutor said Monday his government would be taking its approach to counterterrorism and applying it to the gangs. He said that means more cooperation between law enforcement agencies, closer coordination with other countries and unspecified enhanced powers for law enforcement.