'Major' Turkish supplier of small boats for Channel migrant crossings arrested as 'British FBI' swoop in airport
14 November 2024, 12:57 | Updated: 14 November 2024, 13:16
A suspected people smuggler has been arrested in Amsterdam, accused of supplying small boats for English Channel crossings.
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The 44-year-old Turkish man was stopped at Schipol airport in Amsterdam, in a joint arrest by Britain's National Crime Agency and Dutch and Belgian police on Wednesday.
He is accused of selling boats and engines to people smugglers operating in the English Channel. Police suspect him of sending them from Turkey to Germany for storage, before they are sent on to Northern France when needed.
The suspect will now be extradited to Belgium to face people-smuggling charges.
Speaking after the arrest in the Netherlands, NCA director general for operations Rob Jones said it was a "milestone" in one of his agency's "most significant investigations into organised immigration crime".
Sir Keir Starmer said: "It is good news that today a man suspected of being a significant supplier of small boat equipment has been arrested.
"Criminal gangs have been getting away with this for far too long.
"I want to thank the UK National Crime Agency, along with their Dutch and Belgian counterparts, for all their hard work and their crucial role in this investigation.
"It's exactly what we want to see and it shows that our approach of working with international partners to smash the people smuggling gangs is bearing fruit."
He added that the arrest "demonstrates the importance of working closely with our European partners."
Mr Jones said: “We suspect that this individual is a major supplier of boats and engines to the smugglers operating in Belgium and northern France.
"The types of vessels and engines we see used in making these crossings are highly dangerous and completely unfit for open water. At least 50 people are known to have died this year as a result. There is no legitimate use for them.
"This is why targeting these networks and their business model is a priority for the NCA. Working with our partners we are determined to do all we can to target, disrupt and dismantle the criminal gangs involved, wherever they operate."
So far this year more than 32,000 people have arrived in the UK having made the journey across the English Channel by boat, according to Home Office figures.
The Labour government has said that breaking up people-smuggling gangs is key to its strategy for reducing small boats crossings over the Channel.
It ended the previous Conservative government's plan to ship people to Rwanda on the first day after getting elected in July. Some critics claimed that removing this deterrent would result in more people making the crossing.
The operation comes as the NCA is leading around 70 live investigations into organised immigration crime or human trafficking, according to the agency.
The arrest of the suspected boat supplier was carried out through a Europol Operational Task Force and partners.
A spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office of West-Flanders said international cooperation is "crucial in the fight against human smuggling".
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Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper said: "We will relentlessly pursue the criminal smuggling gangs making millions out of small boat crossings that undermine our border security and put lives at risk.
"This major investigation shows how important it is for our crime fighting agencies to be working hand in glove with our international partners to get results.
"The excellent work of the UK’s National Crime Agency has been critical to this.
"We will stop at nothing to root out criminal networks wherever we find them."
