Channel Smuggling Boats Are Now Flown Into the Netherlands – Customs Steps in

The dinghies that end up in the English Channel are not built on French beaches. More and more of them, Dutch authorities say, pass through the Netherlands first – some by air.

Dutch Customs told NOS Nieuwsuur it will tighten controls on large rubber boats after a sudden rise in shipments arriving on cargo flights from Turkey. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee recently intercepted two consignments, one by air and one by road, and British Customs seized 25 rubber boats bound for the Netherlands at a UK airport about two weeks ago. The boats are made in China and shipped to Turkey, whole or in parts, before travelling on to Western Europe.

“This is new for us, and it shows that we have to respond.”

— Erwin, Royal Netherlands Marechaussee intelligence officer, to NOS Nieuwsuur (as reported by NL Times)

Packages worth up to €20,000

National migration-crime prosecutor Petra Hoekstra told NOS that criminal networks buy the boats, arrange the fuel and life jackets and deliver complete packages to people in France or Belgium. She believes the Netherlands is where such packages, worth €10,000 to €20,000 each, are put together. Europol estimates smugglers earned about €100,000 per boat in 2025.

Prosecutors think a change in German law is pushing the trade west: the boats used to be stored mainly in Germany, where helping smuggle people from Europe to Britain long was not a criminal offence. At least 22 people have died trying to cross the Channel so far this year, after at least 29 in 2025, according to an AFP tally.