New hi-tech centre to fight terrorism
10:45am Friday 12th March 2010 in News
A NEW weapon in the fight against terrorists, criminals and illegal migrants has been opened at Manchester Airport by the Home Secretary Alan Johnson.
The National Border Targeting Centre is the UK Border Agency’s hi-tech hub where checks on passengers entering and leaving Britain will be carried out.
The unit will replace the smaller Joint Border Operations Centre at Heathrow as the operational hub for “e-Borders”, which electronically checks a passenger’s data before they set foot on a plane.
Agency officers will work alongside the Serious Organised Crime Agency and police to share intelligence and issue alerts when a suspect is identified by the electronic border checks.
It is expected the new centre will create 250 jobs in the region and enable the UK Border Agency to meet its tough target of screening 100 per cent of passenger movements in and out of the UK by air, sea or rail by 2014.
