A suspected supplier of “hundreds” of small boat engines used by people smugglers to transport asylum seekers across the Channel has been arrested in Amsterdam, officials said.
A 44-year-old Turkish national was arrested on Wednesday after arriving at Schiphol airport, the UK’s National Crime Agency said. The suspect was due to be extradited to Belgium to face charges of being involved in human trafficking as part of a criminal organisation.
The man is suspected of supplying engines and boats to cross-Channel smugglers, shipping the boats from Turkey and storing them in Germany until they were transported to northern France.
Hundreds of engines are believed to have been supplied by the man to gangs in France, a government source said, adding that he has been pursued by the authorities for months.
The arrest follows a joint investigation by the National Crime Agency and investigators in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Rob Jones, the NCA’s director general, said: “This arrest marks an important milestone in one of the NCA’s most significant investigations into organised immigration crime.
“We suspect that this individual is a major supplier of boats and engines to the smugglers operating in Belgium and northern France.”
He said the vessels and engines used in Channel crossing were “highly dangerous and completely unfit for open water”.
Keir Starmer said the arrest was a “significant piece of the jigsaw” in tackling Channel crossings.
“Criminal gangs have been getting away with this for far too long. I want to thank the UK National Crime Agency, along with their Dutch and Belgian counterparts, for all their hard work and their crucial role in this investigation.
“It’s exactly what we want to see and it shows that our approach of working with international partners to smash the people-smuggling gangs is bearing fruit.”
So far this year at least 58 people are known to have died making the dangerous journey.
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: “We will relentlessly pursue the criminal smuggling gangs making millions out of small boat crossings that undermine our border security and put lives at risk.
“This major investigation shows how important it is for our crime-fighting agencies to be working hand in glove with our international partners to get results.”
Starmer dismissed claims that arresting an alleged smuggler might be futile because he would soon be replaced by others.
He said: “I don’t accept the proposition that none of this is worth doing because somebody else pops up. It is a step, it is an important step. Of course there are going to be other steps that will be necessary but it is a significant arrest.
“If the boats and the engines aren’t available, it obviously makes it much more difficult for these crossings to be made.”
Starmer has ditched Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation plan and the previous slogan of “stop the boats” and is instead targeting the smugglers using the slogan “smash the gangs”.
Some Home Office insiders have privately said he may struggle in the long run to dent the numbers of people crossing in small boats without finding a deterrent. Others have called for the government to instead open new and safe routes for people fleeing war and oppression.
The NCA is leading about 70 investigations into networks and individuals involved in “top tier” trafficking and immigration crime.
The operation to arrest the Turkish national was jointly coordinated by government agencies – a Europol operational taskforce with the assistance of Eurojust, through the formation of a joint investigation team.
A statement from the public prosecutor’s office of West-Flanders said: “International cooperation is crucial in the fight against human smuggling, and the arrest of this suspect through close cooperation with our UK and Dutch partners demonstrates our ongoing commitment to partnership working.
“Human-smuggling criminals do not respect national borders, and we will relentlessly pursue these criminals through working internationally.”
More than 1,300 people have arrived on small boats over the past seven days, according to government figures.