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Inflatable boats, rubber rings and engines were confiscated in Bulgaria before reaching people smugglers British News

Inflatable boats, rubber rings and engines were confiscated in Bulgaria before reaching people smugglers British News

Hundreds of inflatable boats, rubber rings, motors and pumps have been confiscated at the Bulgarian border to prevent them being used to transport migrants to the UK.

Over the past 12 months, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has worked with the Bulgarian Customs Service and the Bulgarian Border Police, as well as the Ministry of Interior and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), to prevent the equipment from falling into the hands of people smugglers.

The joint operation resulted in 33 individual arrests – and the confiscation of 125 dangerous inflatable boats, 128 engines, more than 700 pumps and 300 rubber rings.

Earlier this month, the team went to the Kapitan Andreevo border crossing in the south Bulgaria to carry out targeted searches.

It is one of the busiest land borders in Europe and is often used as a main route for human traffickers and smuggling gangs.

Picture:
Officials search a vehicle at the Bulgarian checkpoint. Image: NCA

Image: NCA
Picture:
Dogs are used to search for maritime equipment. Image: NCA

Image: NCA
Picture:
Additional devices are discovered during searches. Image: NCA

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Engines were found in a vehicle driven by a Bulgarian citizen who claimed he was transporting furniture for personal use. He was subsequently fined.

The day after the exercise, another ten Chinese-made outboard motors were confiscated.

If the devices captured last year had been passed on to criminal gangs, they would have made a profit of around £16.6 million, the NCA said.

NCA Director of Intelligence Adrian Matthews said: “Bulgaria is a key location on the supply route for the criminal people smuggling networks involved in organizing dangerous boat crossings across the English Channel.”

“Removing this equipment before it can reach them not only disrupts their operations and reduces their profits, but also prevents these deadly boats and underpowered engines from being deployed at sea where lives are at risk.”

Image: NCA
Picture:
Border officials at the border crossing in southern Buglaria. Image: NCA

Georgi Gospodinov, customs chief at Kapitan Andreevo Border Police, added: “The joint exercises with UK law enforcement partners are extremely important for us.”

“The exchange of best practices is a guarantee of good results in the effective fight against contraband and illegal human trafficking.”