UK officers have seized 25 inflatable boats from an air freight shipment passing through East Midlands Airport. The National Crime Agency says it believes the boats were destined for people smugglers arranging crossings of the English Channel.
The shipment was travelling from Turkey to the Netherlands when NCA and Border Force officers intercepted it on Friday, 2 October. The agency announced the seizure on Tuesday, 6 October. It said its officers and the Home Office Intelligence Team had identified the boats packed in pallets.
Each boat was about nine metres long. The NCA estimated that the full shipment could have carried around 1,700 people if the boats had reached smugglers and been used for Channel crossings. That is a calculation based on their possible capacity. It does not mean 1,700 people were aboard the boats, intercepted at the airport, or prevented from crossing on a particular day.
NCA deputy director Craig Turner said the agency is working with international partners to target suppliers of boats and engines. He said seizures are making that equipment harder and more expensive for smuggling groups to obtain. The agency’s investigation into this shipment continues.
It was the second large seizure of small boat equipment in the UK this year, according to the NCA. Officers found 25 boats and 25 engines in a maritime shipment at Felixstowe in July. The East Midlands interception was the first such detection the agency had made in air freight.
The seizure shows how officers are pursuing the supply chain behind Channel crossings, including shipments passing through the UK on their way elsewhere. It remains an ongoing investigation; the NCA has not announced charges arising from this interception.
