A mega dinghy carrying 230 migrants was detected in the Channel, surpassing the previous record of 165, as smugglers scale up their operations.
Record-Breaking Dinghy
The image of 230 migrants crammed onto a mega dinghy could define Andy Burnham’s time in Downing Street. It represents how Labour’s plan to stop the boats is essentially relying on everyone else. Hoping France will stop more boats, praying Germany will raid more of the smugglers’ warehouses, pleading with countries to take back more migrants.
The mega dinghy, which seems a moniker in itself given its size, shows one thing very clearly – for all the talk of ‘smashing the gangs’, the smugglers are bringing new capabilities to the table. A boat big enough to carry the same number of people that buy tickets for a Boeing 737.
Just days before, a boat carrying 173 sank. The pattern is clear. The boats are getting bigger and bigger.
Smugglers' Plans Revealed
This detail should alarm us all. It happened in the Mediterranean, with smugglers there turning to larger vessels as the pressure intensified on them. It led to horror and tragedy, with more than 1,000 deaths so far this year.
But this trend shouldn’t be new to intelligence officers. I revealed in January 2025 how smugglers were planning to cram boats with more than 100 people. At the time, boats carried an average of 55 people.
And they praised their floating death-traps in front of customers, claiming they are “very good” quality as they are “only air”. This, they say, means they can be inflated in just 10 minutes and easily hidden from police.
Smugglers' Tactics
Given the mega dinghy crisis now erupting, it’s worth reminding ourselves of that conversation. The criminals openly discussed how they hated operating in Gravelines - an area the Daily Express has seen increased police patrols. That picture remains true today, with the smugglers spreading south along the coast. But launches still occur from the notorious beach.
They said it was a “disaster” as it was easy for officers to “ambush” them as they risk hundreds of lives every week.
A migrant then interrupted the smugglers during this live TikTok stream as they discussed their vile trade, asking: “Are there different yachts?”
Two of the smugglers then responded. One told a desperate asylum seeker: “Of course brother, there are VIP and regulars. VIP carries around 50 people, others are different. Some smugglers put 70 to 80 people [in to their boats].
“Those immigrants are so poor, it is their life.
“We are smugglers working in Calais. We never put more than 55 people in a boat. There are smugglers, I don’t want to mention names, who put 80 people in a boat, even though the boat’s wave breaker was torn. I have a video I swear.”
His colleague added: “I know brother, I know. All of them are deceiving poor migrants. For example, there was one last night, they put 66 people in. It is not even good for 50 people.
“I swear the one which I will use tonight, we only put 60 people in, others are putting 100 to 110 people.”
Warnings Ignored
That was nearly 20 months ago. So I find it incredibly hard to accept the Prime Minister’s claim this week that they’ll have to ‘change tactics’. The warnings were there, and I’d like to think the Prime Minister has access to much better intelligence than me.
The plans to deal with mega-dinghies and taxi-boats should have been military-grade, ready to deploy the moment they emerged. But we’re now entering a dangerous new phase of this crisis – at a time when the public are unwilling to accept more excuses.
We're still not sure how the French will actually ever stop the majority of crossings. And, as we've reported many times, very few Channel migrants are actually ever removed. So the opportunities for the smugglers are still there. And criminals will always take the chance of vast profits. History has proven that.
The image of a mega dinghy on the front pages of national newspapers does not show a Prime Minister in control of a crisis. As the French lifeboat service put it, the smugglers are “scaling up”. And they are doing it in front of everyone. That means the worst may be yet to come.
