On 19 March 2025, an operation involving law enforcement and judicial authorities from Belgium and Germany, coordinated by Europol, targeted a migrant smuggling network active across the English Channel. The operation was also supported by Italy and Eurojust. The investigation targeted a criminal network based in Germany and involved in criminal activities facilitating the smuggling of Middle Eastern and East African migrants across the English Channel with low-quality inflatable boats.

Officers from the German Federal Police (Bundespolizei) raided several houses and storage spaces under search and arrest warrants issued by the Belgian Court and executed under the supervision of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Düsseldorf. One arrest following a European Arrest Warrant issued by Belgium was also made in the region of Calabria by the Italian authorities. Ten Belgian investigators were deployed to the German region of North Rhine-Westphalia to support the operational activities on the ground. 

The action day on 19 March led to:

• 6 arrests (5 in Germany and 1 in Italy) under Belgian judicial order
• 11 locations (8 houses and 3 storage spaces) searched in Germany
• Seizures include: 90 life vests, jerrycans, 2 firearms and more than 47 electronic devices.

The criminal network, active since 2023, transported nautical equipment from storage spaces in Germany to France. Drivers recruited via online platforms for this purpose transported the boats, jackets and other gear in modified vehicles with darkened windows and special compartments for the transportation of the equipment. The criminal network was highly coordinated, arranging several trips per day. The illicit proceeds were laundered via the Hawala underground banking system. 

Key suspect arrested earlier

In the lead-up to this large-scale operation, one of the main suspects had already been arrested. On 10 March, a 25-year-old Iraqi national residing in Germany was apprehended early in the morning at Charleroi Airport while attempting to board a flight to Greece. He was interrogated by investigators and brought before the investigative judge on 11 March, who ordered his detention on suspicion of human smuggling and involvement in a criminal organisation.

Migrant smuggling: An ongoing lethal threat

Since 2019, migrant smuggling via small boats has steadily risen, surpassing lorries in 2021 as the primary method of transporting migrants from the EU to the UK. The criminal networks behind these operations remain highly active, increasingly violent and highly adaptable, continuously developing new crossing techniques. The criminal networks are using increasingly dangerous modi operandi and increasing the risk to life by transporting higher numbers of migrants per boat.

In 2024, more than 36 000 migrants and 680 boats successfully reached the UK, up from approximately 28 000 migrants and 580 boats during the same period in 2023. The number of lives lost has also risen – 78 deaths at sea were recorded in 2024, compared to 12 in 2023. So far in 2025, 4 000 migrants have successfully reached the UK, 2 000 of whom arrived in the past three weeks.