You may find it of interest but also of concern to read that a crackdown by the Government lasting only a week has resulted in the arrest of 60 moped delivery drivers who were found to be working illegally for a number of major firms. The arrests were in the South and London.

There has been a rise in offences involving gig workers relating to immigration so the Home Office felt it appropriate to increase efforts to deal with illegal working.

Prior to the operation taking place that ran from the 16th to 21st April 2023 a great deal of intelligence gathering was undertaken by Immigration Enforcement. The Home Office used officers who worked with pertinent police forces in specific areas to detain and arrest a number of moped drivers who were delivering illegally.

Although arrests related to offences involving the possession of false documents and working illegally cash and weapons were also found and detained that had some link to criminal activity. In excess of £4,500 was seized and a number of imitation firearms and other types of weapons were seized from searched properties.

One of the reasons why this action has been taken by the Government is to make sure that people working in such roles and the companies employing them are making a contribution to the economy here in the UK and also meeting other regulations.

Apparently, of the 60 arrests made, 16 of those people were released on immigration bail with the Home Office detaining the other 44 who are likely to be removed from the UK. A larger proportion of those arrested were from Brazilian nationality with some from Algerian and Indian nationalities.

Here in the UK, employers have a duty of responsibility to stop people working illegally. If an employer is found guilty to have employed someone who they knew had no right to work within the UK or who had a reasonable cause to believe had no right to work in the UK can receive an unlimited fine and go to prison for 5 years.