Inside secret police warehouse as Germany targets small boats gangs

Germany has carried out its first raids under a new law aimed at cracking down on smugglers who use the country as a staging point for small‑boat crossings of the English Channel, the BBC has learned. More than 9,000 life jackets, dozens of dinghies and engines and 360 pumps were seized by police this spring during a joint operation involving the UK, France and Germany in North Rhine‑Westphalia. The dinghies and equipment are now being stored at a concealed location that the BBC was granted special access to. The stash has been left exactly as it was found. Officials say the dinghies measure about 9 m (29 ft) when inflated; they are currently deflated and packed mainly in cardboard boxes. According to the UK’s National Crime Agency, the seized boats could have carried more than 2,000 migrants across the Channel illegally – roughly 65 people per dinghy. Smuggling gangs have long used garages or warehouses in western Germany to store equipment before moving it to northern France. In December, Berlin passed legislation that makes it a specific criminal offence to facilitate migrant smuggling to the UK. Previously, German anti‑smuggling laws applied only to EU states with free‑movement agreements, not to third countries such as the post‑Brexit UK. Although raids have occurred in Germany before, they previously depended on French or Belgian warrants. In 2024 Germany announced it would tighten its laws to simplify prosecutions of those who help ferry migrants to the UK, as part of a new programme agreed with Britain. The move followed a BBC investigation that revealed Germany’s role in the small‑boat supply chain. Germany’s Interior Ministry confirmed that these raids represent the first time enforcement measures have been taken under the new law, but did not say whether the seized equipment had been used more than once. In June, when the National Crime Agency first disclosed the raids, it estimated that the equipment could have transported more than 2,000 people across the Channel – about 65 per dinghy. That figure is lower than the alleged “mega dinghies” observed this summer but aligns with recent averages and the broader upward trend in passenger numbers.