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Members of the public are being urged to report suspicious activity around small airfields in Essex, helping to stop crime from taking off this summer.
There are tens of thousands of light aircraft, helicopters and microlights flying in and out of small airfields and airports across the country every day.
These kinds of aircraft can be used by individuals and gangs to smuggle people, drugs and guns, as well as for committing terrorism offences. This is especially true at airfields or airports with limited or no checks.
There are many different types and sizes of airfields in Essex, varying from larger commercial or historical airfields to smaller flying clubs and simple air strips in farmer’s fields.
Not every airstrip can be monitored 24 hours a day, therefore the aviation and local community can play a vital role in preventing border crime and helping keep people safe.
Project Pegasus
Partners in Essex have joined forces to promote Project Pegasus, a joint law enforcement initiative between Border Force, the National Crime Agency, the Police and the charity Crimestoppers.
By raising awareness of this kind of crime, partners in Essex hope to discover whether it is a significant problem in the county.
The campaign asks residents to be the eyes and ears in their communities to help stop this kind of crime.
Find out more about Project Pegasus and what to watch out for.
Look out for suspicious activities
Residents are urged to look out for suspicious activities such as:
- Planes landing in unusual places or at unusual times
- Packages being dropped from low-flying aircraft or suspicious deliveries
- Someone taking an unusual interest in airport security
- Someone where they shouldn’t be
- Seeing someone flying a drone close to an airfield or airport
- An aircraft that has been unusually modified
- A person being evasive about passengers, flights or routes
- A person ignoring aviation regulations or filing misleading or false general aviation reports or flight plans
- Items being handled suspiciously or concealing cargo
Reporting suspicious activity
If they do see something suspicious, they should not take direct action themselves or reveal their suspicions. Instead, they should call the police on 101 or if urgent, on 999.
Information can also be given to Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or using the online form.
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