Bulgaria is a now a key player in the international people smuggling networks (Image: Getty)
Bulgaria is increasingly becoming a major transfer point for people smuggling gangs importing flimsy boats from China to get people across the English Channel into the UK.
The British authorities have spent the past year working alongside counterparts in Bulgaria to try to dismantle the importation route and seize the component parts before they get to France and allow further dangerous crossings.
UK National Crime Agency (NCA) officers have led a law enforcement partnership with the Bulgarian authorities to prevent hundreds of boats, engines and other pieces of maritime equipment reaching the hands of people smugglers.
NCA Director of Intelligence Adrian Matthews said: “ is a key location on the supply route for the criminal people smuggling networks involved in organising dangerous Channel boat crossings.
“Taking this equipment out before it can reach them not only disrupts their activities and hits their profits, but it also prevents these lethal boats and under-powered engines being used at sea where lives are at risk.”
In October 2023 Bulgaria and the UK signed a joint declaration reflecting both countries’ commitment to deepening relations further. A key point was the commitment to work together on strengthening our abilities to disrupt serious organised crime networks.
NCA officers seized an uninflated boat in Bulgaria (Image: NCA )
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In November 2023 a joint statement between the Republic of Bulgaria and the United Kingdom was signed on enhancing cooperation in combatting and preventing Organised Immigration Crime.
For the last 12 months the NCA, alongside the Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), have worked closely with the Bulgarian National Customs Agency and Bulgarian Border Police, sharing intelligence and mounting joint operations targeting the criminal supply chain.
As a result, 33 separate interceptions of maritime equipment intended for criminal gangs organising channel crossings have been made, including 125 dangerous inflatable boats, 128 outboard engines, more than 700 pumps, and 300 rubber rings.
NCA experts assess the seizures will have denied the crime networks around £16.6 million in profit they would have made from crossings using the equipment.
Earlier this month a task force of officers from the NCA, Border Force, and Home Office International Operations travelled out to the Kapitan Andreevo border crossing point in southern Bulgaria for a joint exercise with Bulgarian partners, carrying out training and targeted searches of vehicles and freight using dogs and specialist equipment.
The day after the conclusion of the exercise another 10 -made outboard engines were seized.
A sniffer dog carries out vehicle searches in Bulgaria (Image: NCA)
The engines were found during a thorough customs check of a vehicle driven by a Bulgarian national, who declared that he was transporting furniture for personal use. The engines were found among the load, and the driver was issued with a fine.
Kapitan Andreevo is one of the busiest land borders in Europe and the busiest land border in Bulgaria in terms of traffic of persons, vehicles, and commodities, and is a key point targeted by human traffickers and criminal smuggling gangs.
Mr Matthews added: “As close partners and allies, the UK and Bulgaria work together to tackle organised crime and illegal migration, strengthening the border security of both countries.
“And together we are determined to continue doing all we can to disrupt and dismantle the people smuggling networks profiting from misery, wherever and however they operate.”
Georgi Gospodinov, Head of Customs at Kapitan Andreevo BCP, said: “The joint exercises with partners from the UK law-enforcement authorities are extremely important for us.
“Sharing good practices is a guarantee for good results in tackling efficiently the contraband and illegal human trafficking channels.”
The NCA has worked with Bulgarian counterparts for the past year (Image: NCA)
Bulgaria has become a key player in the Channel smuggling trade (Image: NCA)
Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Angela Eagle said: “This work shows what can be achieved through international cooperation to go after the criminal smuggling gangs making millions out of small boat crossings. Our Border Security Command will turbocharge these efforts, with investigators stationed throughout Europe and additional resource to support operations like these.
“We will not stand by while criminals’ prey on vulnerable people, including women and children.
“Thanks to the efforts of the NCA, Border Force and other Home Office staff, working in lockstep with our Bulgarian allies, our borders are more secure and more lives have potentially been saved. By seizing the equipment used for dangerous and flimsy boats, we are also striking a major blow to the smugglers’ operations and cutting off millions in profits.”
The NCA has a network of international liaison officers based at strategic locations around the world, covering more than 130 countries.
The network works alongside international partners to help disrupt criminal networks impacting the UK, including those involved in organised immigration crime, sharing intelligence and co-ordinating law enforcement action.