MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th August, 2023) The UK National Crime Agency is seeking to persuade Germany to seize inflatable boats that are used by human traffickers to smuggle migrants into the United Kingdom, British media reported Sunday.
Officials from the organized crime fighting unit are looking at EU and German laws that would allow inflatables to be classified as "dangerous goods," according to information obtained by The Times.
The NCA believes that many inflatable dinghies used in smuggling operations in the English Channel are stored in German warehouses before they are called up for use along the northern French coast.
These boats, the NCA argues, are made in Turkey and sold for as little as 1,000 Pounds ($1,300). They lack a fixed hull and are prone to overloading with up to 70 passengers, making them essentially death traps.
