Welsh coastline will be policed by 'neighbourhood watch' program
March 17 2010 by Liam Clifford
UK immigration and UK Customs officials are planning a clampdown on organised crime using the Welsh coastline as a means for people trafficking and drug smuggling.
The operation is being co-ordinated by Coast Watch Wales, which is responsible for the activity across the 750-mile stretch of coastline that makes up Wale’s peninsula.
The scheme, which isn’t heavily funded, will operate on a neighbourhood watch basis, whereby boat users and the communities that use the coastline will monitor and report anything that they feel to be out of place.
UK immigration and customs will then investigate all calls made to them and reports submitted via the website.
UK Border Force Director of Wales, Marc Owen, highlighted what they wanted to achieve with the new initiative.
"We're asking maritime communities to help us protect the Welsh coastline by making it simpler to report suspicious activity.
"The UK Border Agency works 365 days a year to prevent illegal UK immigration and smuggling at the Welsh coast - which forms a large part of the UK's border."
Wales’ coastline has been the subject of recent high-profile activity, with arrests and prosecutions taking place for a variety of drugs and immigration offences.
The most recent was a vessel docking at Port Talbot which was discovered to be carrying cocaine with a street value of £500,000.
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