Migrant boats supplier arrested in joint operation between UK, Netherlands and Belgium

Law enforcement agencies in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands have arrested a “major supplier” of small boats and engines to criminal people smugglers.

The suspect, a Turkish national, was arrested after arriving at Amsterdam airport.

Dutch authorities plan to extradite the man to Belgium to face charges of people smuggling, as part of an organised criminal operation.

Authorities say he is suspected of running an operation that supplied small boats and engines to people smugglers who are active in Belgium and northern France.

Investigators say the 44-year-old was shipping his supplies from Turkey and storing them in Europe before transporting them to northern France for the smugglers.

A spokesperson, the EU agency for criminal justice cooperations said: “Criminal networks often use the Netherlands as a hub for preparing the smuggling of humans.

“From there, the boats and equipment are transferred to France or Belgium, where smugglers put people on boats to cross the English Channel to the UK.

“The boats used are highly dangerous and unfit for open water, ultimately resulting in casualties.”

More than 50 people have died attempting to make the crossing so far in 2024, the worst year for deaths in the Channel since the migrant crisis began.

The arrest is the result of a joint investigation team set up at Eurojust between Belgian and UK authorities.

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Eurojust said authorities were able to work closely, exchanging evidence and carrying out joint actions.

Dutch authorities assisted with the arrest after it became clear the suspect was travelling from Turkey to the Netherlands.

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.”

The National Crime Agency is currently leading around 70 ongoing investigations into networks or individuals it describes as being in the “top tier of organised immigration crime or human trafficking”.

Earlier this month, a man arrested by the NCA and extradited to France was one of 18 people convicted of people smuggling by French authorities.

40-year-old Kaiwan Poore was detained by the Agency at Manchester airport, as he attempted to board a flight to Turkey.

This week, a Birmingham-based British national, who came to the UK from Iraq in 2002, was one of three smugglers convicted.

Pistiwan Jameel, 54, and his fellow smugglers are believed to have facilitated the smuggling of hundreds of migrants into the UK.

All three men will be sentenced on December 3.