Germany conducted its first raids under a new law against migrant smuggling
Germany conducted its first raids under a new law aimed at combating the facilitation of the illegal smuggling of migrants across the English Channel to the United Kingdom. During a joint operation by law enforcement agencies from Germany, France, and the United Kingdom in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia this spring, authorities seized more than 9,000 life jackets, dozens of inflatable boats and engines, as well as 360 pumps, according to BBC News.
According to estimates by the UK’s National Crime Agency, the seized equipment could have been used to smuggle more than 2,000 people across the Channel. The boats and equipment are being stored in an undisclosed police warehouse in western Germany. Officials note that the inflatable boats are approximately nine meters long; they are stored folded, mostly in cardboard boxes.
Criminal groups have long used garages and warehouses in western Germany to store equipment before transporting it to northern France. In December, Germany passed a law that specifically criminalizes facilitating the illegal smuggling of migrants to the United Kingdom. Prior to this, key German laws against the smuggling of people applied only to countries within the EU’s free movement zone, and not to third countries—a category that includes the United Kingdom following Brexit.
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The German Ministry of the Interior confirmed that these are the first enforcement actions carried out under the new law. Raids had taken place in the country before, but they were often based on warrants issued in France or Belgium. German prosecutors, however, caution that the amended law has hardly been tested in practice yet.
The labels on some of the seized life jackets feature Chinese inscriptions. According to BBC News, a significant portion of the equipment used for such crossings is manufactured in China and shipped to Europe, often via Turkey. Recently, at the Turkish-Bulgarian border, customs officials discovered 20 undeclared inflatable boats hidden among mattresses in a truck headed for Germany.
British investigators believe that Kurdish criminal networks have a particularly strong influence on the small-boat smuggling business in western Germany. According to the British government, the number of small-boat crossings of the English Channel from January 1 to August 8 of this year decreased by approximately 43% compared to the same period last year. Authorities attribute the decline to efforts to disrupt the supply of boats and an increased law enforcement presence on French beaches, while opposition politicians point to adverse conditions in the strait, particularly high waves.
