Twenty-five inflatable boats destined for people smuggling gangs running migrants across the English Channel have been intercepted in Bulgaria, in a major joint operation that authorities say could have prevented more than 1,700 people from crossing to the UK.
Bulgarian customs officers made two separate seizures at the Lesovo border crossing last week, acting on intelligence provided by the National Crime Agency and Home Office International Operations through the NCA’s network of international partners.
The first haul came on Wednesday 24 June, when five boats were discovered hidden inside an HGV attempting to cross into Bulgaria. Two days later, on Friday 26 June, officers found a further 20 boats in a separate lorry at the same crossing. That second consignment had been heading for Germany, which is widely used by people smuggling networks as a storage location and transit hub for equipment before it is moved closer to the French and Belgian coast.
Kenny Dron, the NCA’s International Head of Region, said the seizures struck directly at the criminal supply chain that keeps the gangs operating. “Although it is happening thousands of miles away, this work is impacting the crime groups, making it more difficult for them to source equipment, costing them money and ultimately stopping these dangerous unseaworthy boats being used to put lives at risk in the English Channel,” he said. “Targeting the gangs’ business models is a priority for us, and the NCA has worked with international partners to seize more than 1,000 boats and engines since early 2023, with more than 500 seized in 2025.”
The NCA currently has more than 100 active investigations running into individuals and groups involved in organised immigration crime, with officers deployed across source countries, transit routes through southern and eastern Europe, near the UK border in France and Belgium, and inside the UK itself.
Minister for Border Security and Asylum Alex Norris said the government was determined to dismantle the criminal networks profiting from dangerous Channel crossings. “Thanks to the efforts of the National Crime Agency, Home Office intelligence teams and our Bulgarian partners, we have stopped thousands of potential crossings,” he said. “Under this government, disruptions to criminal smuggling activity including arrests, convictions and seizures are up nearly 50 per cent.”
