London, Nov 4 (IANS): United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Monday to inject an additional 75 million British pounds (97.3 million US dollars) to combat the people-smuggling issue.

In a speech to the 92nd session of the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow, Starmer called on global leaders to "wake up to the severity" of the challenge smuggling presents to border security.

People-smuggling is "a vile trade that must be stamped out" and should be viewed as "a global security threat similar to terrorism," he said.

The prime minister said the extra cash injection would bring investment in the UK's new Border Security Command over the next two years to 150 million pounds. The money will help fund additional specialist investigators and surveillance equipment.

The announcement came after 5,417 people crossed the Channel in small boats in October, the highest monthly figure for illegal crossings since October 2022, Xinhua news agency reported.