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Campaigners have now called for greater resources to be directed towards UK Border Force to disrupt the “nefarious” trade.

In the first half of this year, officers intercepted 2,729 illegal blades, compared to 1,625 at this point in 2025 – marking a 68 per cent increase.

A total of 2,912 illegal knives were seized in the whole of 2025.

The dangerous blades include butterfly knives, disguised knives and stealth knives – all banned under UK law.

The recent increase in confiscations has raised concerns over the ease with which individuals can evade UK jurisdiction by buying from overseas sellers and online marketplaces.

A further 1,342 other offensive weapons were also seized up to June of this year, compared to 1,574 for the whole of 2025.

Patrick Green, the CEO of leading knife crime prevention charity The Ben Kinsella Trust, has called for more targeted resources to ensure preventing illegal weapons from entering Britain remains a “national priority.”

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Mr Green told GB News: “While we welcome proactive enforcement by Border Force, these figures highlight the continued demand for dangerous weapons and the alarming ease with which individuals can circumvent UK law. These seizures are likely to represent only the tip of the iceberg.

“We have seen excellent work from the police’s new Knife Crime Centre… However, the scale of these interceptions demonstrates the need for greater resources to be directed towards Border Force and partner agencies.”

The newly formed National Knife Crime Centre is advising the Home Office on plans to introduce a licensing scheme for knife sellers and importers.

Stephen Clayman, the head of the coordination hub, told The Telegraph that “sellers based outside the UK are not subject to the same strict legal requirements”, warning that sales on the grey market do not require age verification.

He added it will also aim to close significant legislative loopholes to tackle overseas dealers.

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Labour’s Crime and Policing Act – which passed earlier this year – introduced tougher age checks on delivery and legal requirements on retailers to report bulk orders.

It has also increased the maximum sentence for those caught selling or possessing zombie knives to two years in jail.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Labour is still not taking the issue seriously enough, vowing to “triple stop and search” if the Conservatives returned to power.

Mr Philp said: “Britain is being flooded with illegal knives. Thousands are being seized at the border, but there is an obvious question of how many more are getting through.

“Labour promised to halve knife crime and has done nothing of the sort. The Government needs to get serious about the online sale of illegal knives and make sure those who sell them face the consequences.”

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Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf warned that criminals are not afraid of the consequences of selling these illegal weapons.

Mr Yusuf said: “Criminals have been allowed to operate with the confidence that the law will do little to stop them. We need to shut down the online marketplaces fuelling this trade, crack down on those importing and selling these weapons, and restore serious consequences for those who carry them.”

Charities also warned social media websites are not only facilitating the advertisement of illegal knives, but also “glamourising and normalising” knife carrying in Britain.

The Home Office recently moved to hold tech firms more accountable for failing to shut down adverts for illegal weapons on their platforms, with fines of up to £70,000 for each offence.

The CEO of The Ben Kinsella Trust, Mr Green, told GB News: “Far too many retailers and online sellers promote knives through images, branding and content that are clearly designed to appeal to younger audiences, presenting them as fashionable, intimidating or aspirational items rather than dangerous weapons.

“Social media is compounding the problem by glamorising and normalising knife carrying, where weapons are too often portrayed as symbols of status, power or protection. They are none of these things. Zombie knives and other dangerous weapons destroy lives and leave hundreds of families grieving each year.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “We have brought in tough new laws to shut down illegal online knife sales, while imposing new legal duties on retailers and online platforms, as we deliver our plan to halve knife crime in the next decade.

“This work is seeing results. Since the General Election, Border Force colleagues alone have seized more than 7,300 dangerous knives at UK ports.

“Additionally, 63,000 knives have been removed from our streets, knife crime has fallen by 11 per cent, and knife homicides are down by 26 per cent, helping drive overall homicides to their lowest level in nearly 50 years.”