a day ago
Moment cops dig up Channel migrant dinghies hidden deep under French beach in blow to smugglers
CHANNEL migrant smugglers are hiding boats deep under French beaches, police have revealed.
A haul of nautical equipment was found by officers buried along the beach at the resort of Wimereux.
4
4
4
The find included an inflatable dinghy, an outboard motor, lifejackets and oars.
The gangs are stowing their boats underground at night and directing migrants to dig them up, inflate them and set off on crossings.
A French officer told The Sun: 'The equipment was all neatly packaged and ready for use when the migrants arrived.
'This follows lots of cars being driven by the smugglers being intercepted, so that the boats can be confiscated.
'They now seem to be hiding the boats late at night, leaving them there for a while, and then telling their clients where to find them.'
Migrants are paying up to £1,300 for a perilous passage to Britain on the dug-up boats.
They can be packed with 80 people — but are designed to carry 20.
Pictures taken by Calais police show a French officer using a shovel to dig up a boat from the sands at Wimereux last week.
Huge numbers of migrants are now reaching England's south coast, lured by the promise of free hotels, healthcare and little prospect of being deported.
A record 1,194 arrived on a single day last month while French officers stopped just 184 out of 1,378.
Starmer 'loses control' as over 1,000 migrants cross Channel in biggest daily total of 2025 – as French cops watch on
The total figure for 2025 is now close to 15,000, the highest figure recorded in the first five months of a year.
The 42 per cent increase has heaped pressure on Sir Keir Starmer 's Labour government, whose pledge to smash smuggling gangs has failed to deliver results.
Figures also show French police have intercepted just 38 per cent of migrants in small boats this year.
That's down from 45 per cent in 2024, despite a £480million UK handout for extra officers and surveillance equipment on beaches.
In the year to April, there were 33 boats with more than 80 people on board, compared with 11 in 2024 and one in 2023, figures from French and UK Home Office show.
The Sun revealed yesterday that .
