German authorities have dismantled a migrant smuggling network operating across the English Channel, arresting six alleged members, Europol announced Thursday.
During the operation, German police arrested five suspects, while Italian police arrested one in the Calabria region under a European Arrest Warrant issued by Belgium. An Iraqi national living in Germany, was reportedly apprehended earlier this month.
The investigation, which also involved Italian authorities and the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), targeted a Germany-based network accused of smuggling Middle Eastern and East African migrants across the English Channel using low-quality inflatable boats.
German Federal Police (Bundespolizei) raided 11 houses and storage facilities under search and arrest warrants issued by a Belgian court and carried out under the supervision of the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Authorities seized 90 life vests, jerrycans, two firearms, and more than 47 electronic devices during the German raids, according to Europol.
Europol said the network, active since 2023, transported nautical equipment from Germany to France, recruiting drivers through online platforms. The equipment was moved in “modified vehicles with darkened windows and special compartments for the transportation of the equipment.”
The network was allegedly highly organized, coordinating several trips per day. It reportedly used the hawala underground banking system—an informal, cashless money transfer network based on trusted brokers—to launder illicit proceeds.
Authorities warn that since 2019, smuggling migrants in small boats has steadily increased, surpassing lorries in 2021 as the primary method of transporting migrants from the EU to the U.K.
“The criminal networks behind these operations remain highly active, increasingly violent and highly adaptable, continuously developing new crossing techniques,” Europol said.
In 2024, more than 36,000 migrants and 680 boats successfully reached the U.K., up from about 28,000 migrants and 580 boats during the same period in 2023. The death toll has also risen, with 78 registered deaths at sea in 2024, compared to 12 in 2023.
Since the start of this year, about 4,000 migrants have reached the U.K., with 2,000 arriving in the past three weeks, according to Europol.
