A suspected people smuggler was arrested in Amsterdam on Wednesday, accused of supplying small boats to intending illegal migrants for English Channel crossings.
The 44-year-old Turkish man was stopped at Schipol airport in the Netherlands capital in a joint arrest by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and Dutch and Belgian police.
NCA director general for operations Rob Jones called the arrest a milestone in one of the agency’s “most significant investigations into organised immigration crime,” the BBC reports.
He said the man was thought to be a “major supplier” of “highly dangerous” boats and engines to smugglers operating in Belgium and northern France.
The NCA said it has been investigating for several years.
Authorities said the man, who has not been named, shipped supplies from Turkey, stored them in Germany, then transported them to northern France.
The suspect was arrested after authorities learned he was travelling from Turkey to the Netherlands.
The man is likely to face legal proceedings in Belgium because the offences he is suspected of committing took place there.
So far this year more than 32,000 people have arrived in the UK having made the journey across the English Channel by boat, according to Home Office figures.
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