Graeme Biggar, the director of the National Crime Agency (NCA), is urging for tighter import restrictions on certain motors used in small boats, to curb the rampant issue of people smuggling. Small, affordable outboard motors, often manufactured in China, are the preferred choice for criminal gangs operating in Europe, who use them to power makeshift vessels.
According to Biggar, implementing import measures both within the UK and across Europe could potentially decrease the number of people migrating illegally. As it currently stands, more than 20,000 individuals have made the dangerous Channel crossing via such small boats this year alone.
In his speaking engagement at the Royal United Services Institute, Biggar explained that the NCA’s chief mission is to disrupt organized crime. By cutting off the supplies of engines and boats to the UK, not only could the influx of illegal migrants be lessened, but the cost of such boat trips could also see a substantial spike.
Biggar believes that this approach might prove more successful than the time-consuming and often fruitless pursuit of those orchestrating the smuggling. Typically, these smugglers inflate their boats and attach motors only at the last moment, usually within sand dunes along the French shoreline, and then allow the desperate migrants to board immediately before launch.
Working in tandem with legal enforcement bodies from various other countries, the NCA, with established outposts across Europe, strives to intercept the components before they can be assembled for use. As part of this effort, in the previous year, the NCA in conjunction with German police raided a farm near Osnabrück, seizing 135 boats, 45 outboard motors, and over 1200 life jackets, while making 40 arrests throughout Europe.
A trend has emerged, according to Biggar, who took over leadership of the NCA in October 2021, involving the use of three specific types of inexpensive Chinese outboard motors, which are generally unusable after one crossing. The NCA is currently deliberating on the most prudent approach to convince the Chinese authorities to aid in their effort, potentially by collaborating with European nations to ban the import of these specific motor types.
Biggar addressed the evolving challenges faced by the NCA, with criminal enterprises operating at an international level, taking advantage of cutting-edge technologies. “We are often investigating cases in which the suspect operates from one country, leverages servers or procures drugs in another, targets victims in a third country, launders the profits in a fourth, and stores the assets in a fifth,” Biggar explained, “Most of these actions are enabled and expedited by technology.”
Unsurprisingly, these organized crime groups are quick to exploit encrypted messaging systems to engage those seeking passage to the UK. As more crimes shift to being conducted remotely from abroad, Biggar is encouraging legislative changes that would thwart an emerging trend regarding 3D printed firearms. With traditional weapons becoming harder to procure, including those converted from blank-firing variants, criminals are turning to 3D printing technologies.
The Home Office has recently included measures in a consultation aimed at penalizing the creation and possession of digital blueprints for firearm parts. As Biggar warns, while reproduced firearms were previously as likely to harm the shooter as the intended target, advancements in 3D printing technologies mean that now, more than ever, these clandestinely-produced weapons pose a significant threat to public safety.
