25 inflatable boats to be used by people smugglers seized at East Midlands Airport
They were going from Turkey to the Netherlands with the NCA estimating they could have been used to move up to 1,700 migrants
Twenty-five inflatable boats due to be used by cross-Channel people smugglers have been seized at East Midlands Airport, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
The craft were found in an air freight shipment going from Turkey to the Netherlands on October 2, with the NCA estimating they could have been used to move up to 1,700 migrants – the equivalent of around 68 per boat.
Each boat is about nine metres long while so-called mega-dinghies sometimes used by people smugglers are around 10 metres long.
The boats were discovered after the NCA and Home Office intelligence team tracked the shipment.
The seizure follows the discovery in July of 25 boats and 25 engines at the port in Felixstowe after a shipment was stopped there on its way to Germany.
NCA deputy director of investigations Craig Turner said: “We continue to target groups or individuals directly involved in the supply of boats and engines used in the Channel for people smuggling.
“This work is happening both overseas, with international partners, and here in the UK.
“So far it has led to the seizure of in excess of 1,600 boats and engines, denying their use to criminal networks.
“Our assessment is that this is having an impact, driving up the cost of boats and engines, making it more difficult to get them to the coast and eating into the profits of the criminal gangs involved.
“I’ve no doubt the boats we’ve seized here would have ended up being used to risk the lives of a huge number of people in the Channel had we not stepped in. Our investigation continues.”
The provisional total for arrivals in small boat Channel crossings this year is 19,451.
This is down 43% on this time last year and 23% below the figure at this stage in 2024.