Germany has vowed to arrest smugglers storing boats in Germany (Image: Getty)
has vowed to arrest migrant smugglers storing boats in warehouses just hours from the French coast.
Berlin will “clarify” its laws to allow police to snare criminals using safehouses in the country, making it an offence to “facilitate the smuggling” of asylum seekers.
The Home Office believes a new deal between the UK and Germany, signed on Monday, will “significantly increase the number of prosecutions made in relation to migrant smuggling”.
Both countries will also “commit to exchanging expertise with a special focus on removing migrant smuggling content from social media platforms; strengthen their focus in Europol on tackling the end-to-end routes of criminal smuggling networks; and further commit to working with European and regional partners to tackle irregular migration upstream.”
Smugglers have exploited loopholes in German law to bring engines and boats to the French coast, bragging that they can reach the French coast using the motorway network within several hours.
Many of the boats are believed to have been stored in Germany (Image: Getty)
Thousands of migrants also pass through the country, with organised crime gangs using safehouses near Bonn, Cologne, Frankfurt, Essen, Dusseldorf, Bochum and Dortmund.
Criminals have admitted sometimes offering ‘bait’ to German police.
This sees the gangsters allow the authorities to seize boats and equipment – but not enough to disrupt their businesses.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “For too long organised criminal gangs have been exploiting vulnerable people, undermining border security in the UK and across Europe while putting thousands of lives at risk. We are clear that this cannot go on.
“Germany is already a key partner in our efforts to crack down on migrant smuggling, but there is always more we can do together. Our new Joint Action Plan will deliver a strengthened partnership with Germany, boosting our respective border security as we work to fix the foundations, and ultimately saving lives.”
The Home Office had been frustrated with German laws which state it is not illegal to facilitate people smuggling to a third country outside the EU.
The Daily Express understands there were particular frustrations over a law which states it is not illegal to store huge dinghies in warehouses across western Germany.
Nancy Faeser, German Federal Minister of the Interior, said: “We are now stepping up our joint action to fight the brutal activities of international smugglers.
“This is at the core of our Joint Action Plan that we have agreed in London. I am very grateful to my British counterpart Yvette Cooper that we were able to reach this important agreement.
“It will help us end the inhumane activities of criminal migrant smuggling organisations. By cramming people into inflatable boats under threats of violence and sending them across the Channel, these organisations put human lives at risk.
“Many of these crimes are planned in Germany. Together, we are now countering this unscrupulous business with even more resolve. This includes maintaining a high investigative pressure, exchanging information between our security authorities as best as possible, and persistently investigating financial flows to identify the criminals operating behind the scenes.”