Britain's 500+ private airports are blind spot in nation's security through which weapons and migrants are being smuggled, report reveals

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 19:01 EDT, 16 September 2026 | Updated: 19:01 EDT, 16 September 2026 More than 500 regional airports in Britain are targets for criminals funnelling drugs and migrants into the country, a new report has found.In the latest breach of Britain’s borders, criminals are exploiting a ‘blind spot’ in policing to funnel drugs, cash, weapons and people into airports around the UK.Nearly one in five of Britain’s aerodromes, airfields and helipads are welcoming unscheduled flights from abroad which can avoid the rigorous customs checks of larger airports, allowing contraband to flood into the country.In some cases, authorities have found 500kg of cocaine on a private jet at Farnborough Airport, £12million worth of heroin and cocaine stashed in a helicopter stopping in Kent and Surrey and a small plane dropping packages of cocaine over rural Dorset.And officials have even uncovered the attempted smuggling of four illegal migrants into Deenethorpe Airfield in Northamptonshire. Criminals are exploiting a ‘blind spot’ in policing to funnel drugs, cash, weapons and people into airports around the UK Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said last night: ‘Criminal gangs are finding new ways to bring drugs and illegal immigrants into our country. We cannot allow them to get away with it'The report, from defence think tank RUSI, also warns that criminals using drones could make trafficking of illicit goods into Britain ‘more viable’.Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said last night: ‘Criminal gangs are finding new ways to bring drugs and illegal immigrants into our country. We cannot allow them to get away with it.‘Labour lack the will to do anything about the crisis at our border. Andy Burnham doesn't have the backbone to face down his left-wing backbenchers and get a grip on the problem.’The report’s author, Cathy Haenlein, gathered evidence from non-scheduled flights across Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg (Benelux) – an area vulnerable to cross-border organised crime.She wrote: 'Criminals are exploiting a border security blind spot in the skies over the UK and Benelux – using private jets, light aircraft and helicopters to move people and commodities across borders on unscheduled flights beyond the commercial airline system that most of the public uses.'In 2025, in the UK alone, 77,316 general aviation flights arrived from abroad, illustrating the sheer volume of legitimate traffic into which criminal activity can blend – and the acute monitoring challenge facing authorities.'Ms Haenlein found that officials often do not have time to properly assess any intelligence about flights before they land – with the journey time less than an hour between the countries.She said that ‘inspecting every flight across this network is neither operationally nor financially feasible’.Britain mandated in 2024 that all flights must declare who is on board before arrival or departure, which led to more aircrafts complying with the rules.But the report noted the figures only refer to ‘flights that are met’ and ‘do not eliminate the possibility of false or incomplete declarations, undeclared passengers or other forms of non-compliance’ among flights that are never inspected.The report recommends all aircraft be ordered to use transponders to monitor their movements, strengthen Europol’s role in sharing intelligence and create multi-agency structures to tackle criminals misusing drones.