Twenty-five inflatable boats capable of carrying up to 1,700 illegal immigrants across the Channel have been seized by Border Force and the National Crime Agency (NCA) at a UK airport.
The 9m-long vessels were intercepted at East Midlands Airport after intelligence officers identified them hidden in pallets aboard an air freight shipment travelling from Turkey to the Netherlands.
The consignment passed through the airport’s freight hub, allowing NCA and Border Force officers to swoop and seize the boats on October 2.
Each inflatable could have carried around 70 people across the Channel had it reached the hands of people smugglers.
The operation marks the
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