Made to order by Chinese firms – boats for Channel trafficking gangs
As 600 people come ashore at Dover in a single day...
CROOKED companies in China and Turkey are manufacturing rubber boats specifically for people smugglers to use to send migrants across the English Channel.
Police intelligence officials say the rubber boats the criminals use can carry between 50 and 70 migrants, and are larger than the usual inflatables sold in shops and online.
The information from the National Crime Agency (NCA), revealed exclusively to The Mail on Sunday, comes as a French warship was seen yesterday escorting a rubber boat carrying around 50 migrants into British waters just five miles from the coast of Dover, until a Border Force vessel arrived to bring the illegals into the harbour.
The French have been criticised for not intervening and taking migrants back to Calais.
More than 600 migrants reportedly arrived on 12 boats yesterday, which would make it one of the highest daily tallies of the year. The highest daily total this year was 756 on August 10. So far in 2023, more than 20,100 migrants have arrived on small boats, compared with 45,755 last year.
A policing source said last night: ‘These vessels appear specifically made for carrying larger numbers of people than would ordinarily safely be carried in an inflatable. They do not conform to any standards, and are not built to withstand the wind and sea states commonly encountered in the Channel.’
They added that the boats are made for single use only, whereas inflatables bought for lawful purposes are durable and can be repeatedly used for years. Investigators also found that none of the migrant boats carry logos or branding, or show any evidence that they had passed safety tests.
In August, six migrants died after their vessel sank after leaving the French coast, and in November 2021, 31 perished when their boat sank in the middle of the Channel.
NCA detectives have found that once the boats are ordered from China or Turkey, they are stored in safe houses in Germany, Holland and Belgium, after which they are brought to Calais for crossings.
The NCA said: ‘We know that many of these vessels are manufactured in China and far Europe where they are made specifically for the use of people smugglers.
‘There is no other commercial use for these types of boats, which don’t meet European safety regulations and are not suitable for sea crossings.’