French prosecutors are additionally investigating the circumstances that led to the launch of the boat, and the NCA stated it’s “assisting French police partners with those enquires”.
NCA deputy director Craig Turner stated: “Working with colleagues at home and abroad, we are determined to do all we can to identify and bring to justice those responsible for these four tragic deaths.”
Migration minister Mike Tapp stated: “Every death in the Channel is a tragedy.
“Our skilled regulation enforcement groups will proceed working relentlessly with worldwide companions to stop these perilous journeys and convey these accountable to justice.”
He added that the Border Security Act, introduced at the end of last year, has given “officers stronger powers to act earlier and disrupt, intercept and take down the operations of felony smuggling gangs who deliver unlawful migrants to our shores”.
