Inside secret police warehouse as Germany targets small boats gangs

What the report says

Germany has carried out its first raids under a new law aimed at people-smuggling networks that use the country as a staging point for small-boat crossings to the UK, according to BBC reporting. The BBC says police seized more than 9,000 life jackets, dozens of dinghies and engines, and 360 pumps during a joint operation this spring in North Rhine-Westphalia involving German, UK and French authorities.

The material was being held at a secret police warehouse in western Germany that the BBC was given limited access to inspect. Officials said the boats, which were stored deflated and boxed, could have been used to transport more than 2,000 migrants across the English Channel. The life jackets were also described as inadequate for rough sea conditions.

BBC reporting says Germany passed the relevant law in December after pressure to make it easier to prosecute those helping smugglers move migrants towards the UK. Before that, German anti-smuggling rules were mainly framed around EU free-movement countries, not the UK after Brexit. Authorities have long suspected western Germany has served as a logistics hub for gangs that store equipment before sending it on to northern France.

The Interior Ministry confirmed the raids were the first enforcement action under the new law. The BBC also notes that investigators believe criminal networks are adapting to tighter enforcement, while UK officials say cooperation with Germany is helping disrupt supply chains for the crossings.