The UK's courier and gig-economy sector is under intensified scrutiny from Immigration Enforcement following a series of coordinated raids on two of the country's largest delivery companies — DPD and Evri. Carried out across five sites over a two-week period in July 2026, the operations resulted in 19 arrests for suspected immigration offences, as part of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's drive to ramp up removals of those with no right to remain in the UK.
The raids are the latest in an accelerating enforcement pattern. In 2025, Immigration Enforcement made 217% more arrests than the previous year, with a particular focus on the gig economy, delivery riders and sub-contracted labour — sectors where right-to-work oversight has historically been inconsistent.
A Full Timeline of the Raids
Five separate enforcement operations were carried out across DPD and Evri depots between 8 and 15 July 2026.
8 July 2026
Evri · Redditch, Worcestershire
One Pakistani national arrested for overstaying a visa
Officers from the West Midlands Immigration Enforcement team visited the Evri depot in Redditch. One Pakistani national was arrested for overstaying their visa and placed on immigration bail with strict conditions while investigations continue.
🚨 1 arrest
9 July 2026
Evri · Croydon, South London
Six arrested — Brazilian, Pakistani and Indian nationals
Officers visited the Evri depot in Croydon and arrested three Brazilian nationals, two Pakistani nationals and one Indian national for various immigration offences. All six placed on immigration bail while further inquiries continue.
🚨 6 arrests
10 July 2026
DPD · Basingstoke, Hampshire & Newbury, Berkshire
Nine arrested; over 100 right-to-work checks carried out
Immigration Enforcement officers raided DPD depots in Basingstoke and Newbury simultaneously. Nine people were arrested — seven Indian nationals, one Ghanaian national and one Pakistani national. Right-to-work checks were conducted on more than 100 individuals across both sites during the operation. All nine placed on immigration bail.
🚨 9 arrests
15 July 2026
Evri · Crawley, West Sussex
Three more arrested — all overstayers
A further Evri site in Crawley was visited, where a Gambian national, a Ghanaian national and a Pakistani national were arrested — all three for overstaying their visas. This brought the total Evri arrests to ten across three separate sites.
🚨 3 arrests
"We assisted Immigration Enforcement officers with the removal of a small number of people from our Newbury and Basingstoke depots and we will continue to cooperate fully with their investigation. We have robust checking processes in place, and we will be reviewing them as well as those of relevant third-party recruitment agencies and suppliers."
— DPD Spokesperson
"We take our employment responsibilities very seriously, and right-to-work checks are carried out for all employees."
— Evri Spokesperson
What This Means for UK Employers
These raids are not isolated incidents. Together they signal a deliberate and accelerating shift in how aggressively the Home Office is targeting illegal working across logistics, courier and gig-economy businesses — sectors that rely heavily on subcontracted labour and third-party recruitment agencies, where oversight of right-to-work status can be inconsistent.
Critically, using a recruitment agency or subcontractor does not automatically protect an employer from liability. The Home Office has been clear: where a company is found to have employed illegal workers and failed to conduct the required pre-employment checks, it can face significant civil penalties — regardless of how the worker was sourced.
⚖️
£60,000
Maximum fine — per illegal worker, not per incident
Employers found to have hired illegal workers without completing required right-to-work checks face civil penalties of up to £60,000 for each individual unlawfully employed. With 19 arrests across five sites, the financial exposure for non-compliant employers in these cases could run into the millions. The Home Office has confirmed it will seek to remove all individuals "as soon as possible".
What UK Employers Must Do Now
Whether you operate in the delivery sector or not, these raids send an unambiguous message: right-to-work compliance is now an active enforcement priority, not a background administrative task.
Employer Right-to-Work Compliance Checklist
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Audit every worker's right-to-work status immediately — direct employees, agency workers and subcontractors. If you cannot produce a valid, verified right-to-work document for any individual, act before an inspection arrives.
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Review your third-party and agency contracts — your business can still face civil penalties for illegal working carried out through a supplier or recruiter. Contractual obligations and indemnities should be reviewed urgently.
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Ensure records are current and immediately accessible — Home Office inspections can arrive with little notice, as the DPD and Evri cases demonstrate. Documents must be up to date, properly stored and retrievable on demand.
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Diarise repeat-check dates for time-limited visas — right-to-work status changes when a worker's visa expires or conditions change. A tracking system for expiry dates is now essential, not optional.
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Review your Sponsor Licence obligations — if you hold a Sponsor Licence, reporting duties, record-keeping and HR systems are subject to compliance checks at any time. Failures can result in licence suspension or revocation.
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Use the Home Office online checking service — for workers with a Biometric Residence Permit, eVisa or share code, always use the official online verification tool rather than relying on physical documents alone.
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