In a significant shift in their approach to the ongoing migrant crisis in the English Channel, French authorities have carried out their first on-water interception of a “taxi-boat” carrying suspected people smugglers. This marks a new phase in the joint efforts between France and the UK to stem the flow of illegal crossings from the French coast to British shores.
The incident occurred on Saturday, when French officers boarded an inflatable dinghy on the Aa canal in Gravelines, a coastal town north of Calais. The so-called “taxi-boat” was believed to be en route to pick up a group of migrants before making the dangerous crossing to the UK. A photograph obtained by the BBC shows several men, presumably the suspected smugglers, on the inflatable boat as it was being towed to the dockside.
This latest action follows an agreement reached between French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer last July, which paved the way for a more assertive French response to the growing problem of small boat crossings. Until now, French police had only intervened to stop the preparation of these vessels on beaches, deeming it too risky to confront them at sea.
However, the tactics of smuggling gangs have evolved, with the use of “taxi-boats” that enter the water some distance away and then travel along the coast to pick up migrants, who then board the vessels to make the crossing. According to a French government document, this method had a remarkable 81% success rate in 2025, contributing to the rise in the number of migrants reaching the UK from 36,566 in 2024 to 41,472 last year.
The new agreement between France and the UK has now enabled French authorities to intervene directly on the water, though concerns about the risks to life and the potential legal liability of officers had previously delayed the implementation of this policy. It appears these issues have now been addressed, with the terms of engagement stipulating that gendarmes will only act to stop “taxi-boats” before they take on migrants, and not when the vessels are fully loaded.
This latest interception seems to have followed this protocol, with police suspecting that the inflatable boat was about to be used for a migrant pickup operation and moving to arrest the men on board before they could carry out their plan. The success of this first on-water intervention will be closely watched as France and the UK continue their efforts to disrupt the smuggling networks and stem the flow of illegal Channel crossings.
