An Albanian drug dealer was arrested as he tried to return to the UK despite being deported just weeks before.
The gang member, who served 20 months in a UK prison for growing cannabis, was snared by Home Office immigration enforcers and the Police Service of Northern Ireland as he travelled on a coach from Dublin to Belfast, having flown in on a fake Greek passport from Albania earlier that day.
He was trying to fly under the radar of law enforcement and illegally re-enter the country after being deported last month.
Two hours prior to catching him, the team had received intelligence about two possible immigration offenders who had boarded a bus in Dublin which was heading north.
One hour before the team crossed paths with the two potential offenders, checks revealed that one of them was the Albanian gang member.
The team arrived at the city centre bus stop just in time to join forces with the PSNI, who had been notified.
Six police officers stormed on the coach as it pulled in and bewildered passengers were disembarked before the pair of suspects were led out by officers for questioning.
The Albanian drug dealer was remanded in custody for breaking his deportation order and his friend was detained by immigration enforcement, pending removal from the UK.
An agreement between the UK Government and Albania means they can easily be sent back on a regular removal flight, adding them to the list of 6,000 Albanians that have been deported in the last year.
Reporters for The Sun on Sunday joined the operation, which was part of huge nationwide crackdown on organised crime groups this week carried out with the National Crime Agency, the Garda, the PSNI, HM Revenues And Customs, Interpol, and regional police forces.
A total of 31 arrests were made over the three day operation as offenders attempted to take advantage of the route into the UK.
Fourteen of the cases were immigration offences involving seven Albanians, while the other offenders were from Jordan, Ukraine, Georgia, Iran, Syria, Sudan and China.