13 hours ago
People smugglers deploy new tactics to evade French police
People smugglers are using lorries to transport migrants to beaches in an attempt to outwit French border police and gendarmes.
The gangs are putting dozens of migrants into the lorries along with a dinghy so that they can avoid detection by police spotters, drones and night-vision cameras when they are driven to the beaches for launch.
Police and gendarmes have previously been able to track the migrants as they walked to the beach to hide in the dunes ready for the arrival of 'taxi boats', which are brought from further down the coast or inland rivers and waterways.
The new tactics come ahead of plans by the French interior ministry for officers from the elite Compagnie de Marche to intercept the 'taxi boats' at sea. The strategy is expected to be ready in time for the Anglo-French summit in London starting on July 8.
Until now, the French have refused to intervene in the water because they claim maritime laws prevent them from taking action that could put lives at sea at risk.
Hidden in plain sight
There have also been instances of gangs driving the dinghies to the shore by car before dumping the vehicle. It is thought this tactic reduces the chance of the boat being intercepted and punctured it before it can get into the sea.
On Tuesday morning, smugglers drove a Volvo estate on to the beach with a dinghy strapped to its roof, which was swiftly taken off and launched into the sea.
French police also discovered a dinghy buried in the sand.
A source close to the French border force's strategic planning said: 'This week we failed to stop a departure that took us by surprise at Etaples, because it's apparently a new modus operandi that has been put in place; this involves delivering migrants in trucks with boats inside, so they are brought directly to the beach and the operation is carried out very, very quickly.
'So this time, unlike last time, we were unable to intercept the truck, which escaped our surveillance. We didn't detect it, so they departed from Étaples. There were around 30 migrants. They were taking water so it's far from sure whether they managed to cross.'
'We've had trucks with huge numbers of migrants inside, arriving at the last minute from far away. We can't stop all the trucks driving around there either. So this allows them to escape our vigilance.'
Some 17,278 migrants have arrived so far this year, up 40 per cent on last year and the highest to this point in the year since the first arrivals in 2018.
The source said the forecasts for crossings were 'favourable' through to at least Friday. 'Unfortunately, the smugglers have the same forecast as us, so we know what to expect,' they said.
'It has nothing to do with the weather; it's all about conditions at sea. The reason that we have seen more crossings and attempted crossings this year is that there have been more such windows of opportunity.'
The source said the aim was to stop two thirds of the boats, although figures released last month suggested the number of migrants being stopped had fallen to fewer than 40 per cent.
They added that the French were adapting their tactics to tackle the 'taxi boats', but said the length of the coastline and inland waterways from which they could be launched was so immense that it was difficult to cover.
'Faced with this situation, we are further adapting our measures, but it requires a lot of men and equipment as we have to follow migrant groups to check for nearby taxi boat,' they said.
'We can't just patrol the waterways; a boat can be hidden in the forest and arriving discreetly along the coast. Traffickers have understood that once a boat is in the water, we don't intervene under current maritime law.'
