As record numbers continue to make the deadly journey, law enforcement agencies struggle to fight the multi-million pound smuggling trade.
French police officers puncture a smuggler’s boat with a knife to prevent migrants from emba (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Over 300 suspected people smugglers have been arrested and 52 criminal gang networks have been smashed in the five years the National Crime Agency has been working with French police.
The Joint Intelligence Cell (JIC) says the gangs were operating on French soil and that the dismantling of the groups came as a result of NCA officers working alongside their French counterparts to try and smash the migrant small boat crisis.
The NCA said that many of the groups were involved in orchestrating the hundreds of small boat crossings that are currently flooding the English Channel.
The announcement comes amid growing pressure on law enforcement to shut off the supply of rigid inflatable boats and disrupt the networks smuggling people into Europe and over the Channel.
Despite the arrests and the UK sending France £700m since 2020 to assist in stemming the flow of boats, this year is projected to see record numbers of asylum seekers arriving by small boat.
Whilst some British politicians have demanded firmer action – and physical police intervention last month saw officers using a knife to puncture a boat before it left shallow waters – the increasingly aggressive policing tactics has also been criticised by monitoring groups, who say the approach leads to higher numbers of asylum seekers being forced into single boats putting them at greater risk of death.
People thought to be migrants scramble to board a small boat near Wimereux in France. Picture date: (Image: PA)
The JIC is based in northern France and operated by the NCA with Home Office International Operations and Oltim, a French police unit that specialises in tackling organised immigration crime.
The unit has allowed fast-time intelligence to be shared by the NCA and HOIO with French and other European partners, which has seen interceptions of boats and engines headed for the Channel, leading to subsequent arrests of facilitators, preventing crossings. A number of these suspects remain under judicial investigation by French law enforcement.
Other cases have seen the NCA work directly with French law enforcement to target people smuggling organised crime gangs.
Among them, that of Kaiwan Poore, detained by the NCA as he attempted to board a flight to Turkey at Manchester Airport in July 2022.
In November 2024, following his extradition from the UK to France, Poore became one of 18 people convicted for people smuggling by a court in Lille, following an investigation led by OLTIM. Members of the network, thought to be behind thousands of Channel crossings, were handed sentences between one and 15 years. Poore was jailed for five years.
In July this year six members of an Afghan people smuggling network were sentenced to a total of 26 years and 10 months imprisonment in France, and received fines totalling 193,000 Euros. Developed though the JIC/URO, this complex investigation was then brought to a successful conclusion by French partners OLTIM.
In June this year nine members of a people smuggling network were sentenced to a total of 64 years in a French prison over a small boat crossing which left four people dead and another four missing in December 2022.
The group were convicted of offences including involuntary manslaughter, endangering lives and facilitating illegal entry. The investigation, led by OLTIM under the direction of a court in Lille, was again supported by the NCA and Kent Police.
And in December 2024, NCA officers supplied intelligence in support of an OLTIM operation targeting a small boats network which saw 17 arrests in Germany and France. Dozens of boats and engines were also seized. NCA intelligence regarding the gang’s routings assisted in targeting those involved.
People thought to be migrants clash with police officers in Gravelines, France, during an attempted (Image: PA)
Deputy Director Rick Jones, who leads the NCA’s international network, said: “France is a key partner for the UK in the fight against organised immigration crime, and the NCA enjoys an excellent bi-lateral relationship with our French law enforcement counterparts.
“The NCA’s involvement with HOIO in JIC/URO means we have UK officers on the ground working with the French police to build proactive and reactive investigations for judicial adoption, with a particular focus on the small boats threat.
“We continue to work with French partners to identify facilitators based in Northern France, and have supplied intelligence which we know has prevented crossings and led to the arrests of the individuals involved.
“Together with them we are determined to do all we can to target these cruel people smuggling gangs who are putting lives at risk by transporting migrants across the Channel.”
(FILES) French gendarme drive a buggy near migrants boarding a smuggler’s boat in an attempt to cros (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Deputy Director for Home Office International Operations Victoria Pullen said: “Our joint work with the NCA and French authorities is paramount to disrupting the operation of organised criminal gangs who continue to put our borders at risk, through closer collaboration and enhanced intelligence sharing we are seeing more criminal enterprises being taken down.
“The French are our closest partner on tackling the global threat of organised immigration crime and our work with them is stronger than ever thanks to the joint unit which has seen hundreds of arrests and seizures of unfit vessels headed for the UK, saving countless lives at sea.
“Together we make clear that we won’t stand by and watch, we are taking the action needed to secure our borders and ensure those who undermine our laws face justice for participating in this life-threatening trade.”
