The number of people crossing the English Channel in small boats so far this year has exceeded 14,000, GB News can reveal.
259 were pulled off 6 boats in the Channel yesterday, by vessels from Border Force, the Royal Navy and the RNLI.
Already today, 101 people have been intercepted on small boats and brought to the main migrant processing centre at Dover harbour.
Authorities are also responding to a number of other small boat sightings, in near perfect weather conditions mid-Channel.
Figures obtained by GB News show that as of today, 14,089 people have now crossed the English Channel since the beginning of the year.
A total of 396 small boats have now been seized by UK authorities.
Last week, officers from the UK’s National Crime Agency joined law enforcement agencies in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium in an operation to arrest 39 suspected people smugglers, alleged to be behind the supply of small boats to the criminal gangs in north western France.
Yesterday, National Crime Agency officers arrested four suspected "senior members" of a criminal gang, believed responsible for the smuggling of people on small boats and in the back lorries.
The four men were arrested at various properties in east London.
GB News has been told the arrests relate to two separate events in 2019, where dozens of migrants were found in the back of HGVs in the Netherlands and France.
Although, the focus has been on small boat crossings of late, figures show that more than 9,000 people arrived illegally in the UK last year in the back of lorries and other vehicles.
Migrants arriving in Dover
Gareth Fuller
Cumulative successful arrivals in the UK by people crossing the English Channel in small boats
PA Graphics
