'Major supplier' of boats for migrant crossings arrested

A 44-year-old Turkish man suspected of being a supplier of small boats has been arrested in what has been described as a “significant piece of the jigsaw” in tackling Channel migrant crossings.

- DAVID HUGHES

The suspect was detained at Schipol airport in Amsterdam on Wednesday after a joint investigation by Dutch and Belgian authorities and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA). He is suspected of shipping dinghies and engines from Turkey and storing them in Germany before they are moved to northern France for crossings.

The man is facing extradition to Belgium over charges of human smuggling, a spokesperson for the public prosecutor’s office of West Flanders said. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has put international cooperation with law enforcement agencies in Europe at the heart of his efforts to cut small boat crossings.

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. Boats and engines the suspect is thought to have supplied are likely to have been involved in transporting thousands of people to the UK over several years.