At least 25 inflatable boats and 25 outboard engines believed to be destined for people-smuggling networks have been seized at the Port of Felixstowe, the UK Defence Journal understands.
National Crime Agency officers carried out the operation on Saturday 18 July with support from Border Force search teams and the Port of Felixstowe. The equipment was discovered inside a shipping container that had arrived from China.
The consignment contained ten-metre inflatable boats and Parsun outboard engines. According to the National Crime Agency, investigators believe the equipment was intended for criminal groups involved in organising small-boat crossings of the English Channel.
The vessel carrying the container was due to continue to Hamburg, where the cargo was expected to be unloaded. Germany has been used as a staging point for boats, engines and related equipment later transported to northern France and Belgium for use by smuggling networks.
There is no suggestion that the ship’s crew or operators knew what the container held.
The NCA said the seizure was believed to be the first interception in the UK of a bulk consignment containing both boats and engines intended for Channel crossings. Since the agency began targeting equipment supply chains in early 2023, more than 1,500 boats and engines have been intercepted by the NCA and overseas law enforcement partners.
Each of the inflatable boats could have carried around 80 people, according to the agency. Had all 25 reached the French coast and been used at full capacity, they could have transported approximately 2,000 people across the Channel.
Small boats used for irregular Channel crossings are frequently overloaded and powered by engines that may be insufficient for the number of people aboard. The crossings take place through one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, often in vessels with limited safety equipment.
NCA Branch Commander Adam Berry said, as quoted in a news update: “This was a significant seizure of small boat equipment which will put a huge dent in the profits of the criminal network involved.”
He added: “It will also have stopped these dangerous boats and under-powered engines being used to put lives at risk in the Channel.”
Berry said investigators acted after learning that the shipment would transit through Felixstowe on its way to Germany.
“Once we identified that the shipment would pass through a UK port on its way to Germany, we were able to work quickly with our partners at Border Force to ensure it would go no further,” he said.
“Targeting the supply lines of people smuggling gangs is just one way we are trying to disrupt them. Our investigation continues.”
Border Security Commander Duncan Capps CBE said, as quoted in the same news update: “This seizure delivers yet another serious blow to the criminal gangs facilitating dangerous and illegal Channel crossings.”
He continued: “Thanks to the hard work of the NCA, Home Office intelligence teams and Border Force officers, disruptions like these to criminal networks and their supply lines are happening more than ever before.”
Capps added: “We will continue to investigate, pursue and detain all those smuggling flimsy small boat equipment, and ensure that they face the full force of the law.”
The operation forms part of a broader effort to disrupt the logistics used by organised immigration crime groups. Rather than concentrating solely on departures from the French coast, investigators have increasingly targeted the companies, intermediaries, transport routes and storage locations used to acquire and move boats and engines across Europe.
The NCA said it currently has more than 100 investigations under way into individuals and networks suspected of involvement in people smuggling. Its investigation into those responsible for arranging the Felixstowe shipment remains active and includes cooperation with international law enforcement agencies.
