Smugglers rely on dinghies shipped from Turkey (Image: Getty)
A “major supplier” of small boats and engines to Channel migrant smugglers has been arrested.
The Turkish national shipped the dinghies from Turkey and stored them in Germany, investigators believe.
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Detectives are concerned organised crime networks are also increasingly using Holland as a “hub for preparing the smuggling of humans”.
The 44-year-old Turkish national was arrested at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam and will be extradited to Belgium.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the arrest was a “significant piece of the jigsaw” in tackling Channel crossings but “I’m not pretending it’s the silver bullet”
He added: "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."
Explaining why Thursday's arrest was important, Sir Keir said: "If the boats and the engines aren't available, it obviously makes it much more difficult for these crossings to be made and we're dealing with gangs and groups that are making a huge amount of money from this vile trade.
"And so it is really important that we take these vital steps against them in relation to disrupting their pattern and the way that they do their business.
"So that's why it's very significant that this arrest has taken place today.
"This is a significant piece of the jigsaw. I'm not pretending it's the silver bullet. There are other steps that are going to be necessary. but this is a very important step."
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Equipment seized during the arrest (Image: National Crime Agency)
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NCA Director General (Operations) Rob Jones said: “This arrest marks an important milestone in one of the NCA’s most significant investigations into organised immigration crime, and it demonstrates the importance of working closely with our European partners.
“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.”
Germany is a key transit country for smugglers bringing dinghies and engines to the French coast, with networks known to use warehouses for their equipment.
Thousands of migrants also pass through the country, with organised crime gangs using safehouses near Bonn, Cologne, Frankfurt, Essen, Dusseldorf, Bochum and Dortmund.
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The criminals admitted they use multiple warehouses in Essen, sometimes offering ‘bait’ to German police.
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This sees the gangsters allow the authorities to seize boats and equipment – but not enough to disrupt their businesses.
Charities working in France have identified vehicles with Belgian, German and Dutch number plates at a notorious migrant camp near Dunkirk.
A spokesperson for the Public Prosecutor’s Office of West-Flanders said: “International cooperation is crucial in the fight against human smuggling, and the arrest of this suspect through close cooperation with our UK and Dutch partners demonstrates our ongoing commitment to partnership working.
“Human smuggling criminals do not respect national borders, and we will relentlessly pursue these criminals through working internationally.”
The operation to arrest the Turkish national was jointly co-ordinated through a Europol Operational Task Force and assistance of Eurojust through the formation of a Joint Investigation Team.
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.”