East Midlands Airport seizure of 25 boats intended for people smugglers

The National Crime Agency (NCA) and Border Force have seized 25 inflatable boats at East Midlands Airport. The vessels were identified within pallets in an air freight shipment traveling from Turkey to the Netherlands.

Each boat is approximately nine meters long and has the capacity to carry roughly 70 people. The NCA estimates that this specific consignment could have been used to transport up to 1,700 migrants across the English Channel.

This marks the first time such a large shipment has been detected via air freight, following a similar maritime seizure of 25 boats and engines at Felixstowe in July. NCA Deputy Director of Investigations Craig Turner stated that these operations aim to target the supply chain of criminal networks, noting that such seizures increase costs for smugglers and deny them the means to risk lives in the Channel.