Migrant 'mega-dinghies' longer than double-decker bus rake in £300,000 a Channel crossing
People-smuggling gangs deploying mega dinghies longer than double-decker buses to ferry migrants across the English Channel are said to be generating as much as £300,000 a crossing.
The latest vessel – a 42-foot inflatable carrying a record 165 migrants – was intercepted by UK authorities last week after making the crossing from northern France.
Based on estimates from border experts, migrants typically pay around £2,000 each for a Channel crossing – meaning a boat carrying 165 passengers could generate a staggering £330,000 in revenue before costs.
A 19-year-old Sudanese national, Chan Mathok Atak, has appeared before Margate Magistrates' Court charged with endangering lives after allegedly piloting the inflatable.
Prosecutors described the overcrowded boat as poorly constructed, already beginning to deflate when it was intercepted – highlighting the increasingly dangerous tactics being used by organised criminal networks.
The court heard the boat was "dangerously overcrowded" and unfit for such a journey – with migrants often being pulled from the water after boats go down.
When migrants first began arriving by small boat in significant numbers in 2018, the average vessel carried fewer than seven people.
By 2022, that figure had risen to 41 – while this year the average stands at nearly 66 passengers per boat.
The latest crossing also shattered previous records of 128 migrants aboard a single dinghy set earlier this month, surpassed by the 165 people carried on last week's vessel.
Experts believe the emergence of mega dinghies shows the extent smuggling gangs are able to adapt, as law enforcement agencies in France increase pressure on their supply chains.
Rather than abandoning crossings, traffickers are transporting larger numbers of people on fewer boats.
David Neal, former Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, said criminal groups routinely alter their methods to overcome enforcement measures.
He said: "If police disrupt one supply route for boats or engines, smugglers quickly find alternatives.
"Using larger vessels may indicate that engines have become harder to obtain, prompting gangs to maximise each crossing."
The Labour Government has prioritised dismantling organised criminal networks after abandoning the previous government's Rwanda asylum policy.
Ministers argue targeting trafficking gangs and their international supply chains offers a more effective long-term strategy.
The National Crime Agency says British and international partners have intercepted more than 1,500 boats and engines since early 2023.
Authorities have also sanctioned companies and individuals accused of supplying inflatable boats to smuggling networks.
Despite those efforts, Mr Neal warned increasingly crowded vessels pose a growing humanitarian risk, with fatal Channel incidents having claimed dozens of lives in recent years through drownings, crushing and trampling aboard overloaded inflatables.
He warned larger vessels carrying more than 150 people increase the potential for mass casualties if a boat capsizes or suffers mechanical failure.