More than 2,000 of UK's most dangerous criminals were 'born abroad'

Some of Britain’s most dangerous criminals are foreign-born and have acquired UK or or EU citizenship, according to the Times.

It claims more than 2,000 criminals, including gangsters, drug dealers and human traffickers were born abroad.

In total, it claims that 2,083 criminals were born abroad and are now active in the UK.

The Times says figures from the National Crime Agency show that of almost 35,000 gangsters, the vast majority, 73%, are UK born.

But it claims that many gangsters have gained British citizenship after arriving from countries such as Poland, Kosovo, Pakistan and Somalia.

A survey in 2013 claimed that a quarter of Britain’s organised crime gangs were run by foreign criminals.

These operated in many fields, including economic and cyber crime.

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The latest figures from the Times come as England and Wales experience a violent crime surge.

Figures released last month showed a 22% increase in knife crime and 11% rise in gun crime in 2017.

There has also been rising concern over murder rates, especially in the capital, London, in recent months.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said that the rise in these violent incidents was ‘unacceptably high’, and they were ‘a national problem that required national solutions from the government’.