French authorities have executed their inaugural maritime interception under a revamped strategy targeting human smuggling operations across the English Channel. On Saturday, law enforcement officers boarded an inflatable vessel termed a ‘taxi-boat’ along the Aa canal in Gravelines, situated along the Channel coast near Calais.
This tactical shift emerged from a July 2025 UK-France summit between President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, responding to sustained British pressure for enhanced border security measures. Previously, French interventions were limited to preventing boat launches from beaches due to safety concerns regarding open-water operations.
Criminal networks had adapted to previous enforcement methods by deploying these taxi-boats from distant locations to coastal pickup points where migrants enter the water to board. French documentation revealed this method achieved an alarming 81% success rate in 2025, contributing to 41,472 migrant arrivals in Britain last year—a increase from 36,566 in 2024 though below 2022’s peak of 45,774.
The breakthrough in operational protocol addresses earlier safety and legal concerns that delayed implementation. Under the current engagement framework, gendarmerie exclusively intercept vessels before migrant boarding occurs, avoiding potentially dangerous situations with fully loaded craft. Saturday’s operation followed this protocol after police identified the inflatable craft moving toward the sea as likely preparing for migrant pickup.
Visual evidence obtained by media outlets shows French police alongside the intercepted inflatable with several apparent smugglers aboard before the craft was towed to dock. French authorities have not yet provided official commentary on the operation.