On Tuesday 18 November, the Dutch military police in North Holland arrested a man on suspicion of being involved in people smuggling and money laundering. The authorities also searched his house and confiscated his sailing yacht. The man is suspected of using his sailing yacht to smuggle people who were staying illegally in the Netherlands to the UK.
According to a statement from the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (Dutch military police), the investigation began in August 2025 in front of the lock in Stellendam. A sailing yacht had been waiting for the lock there for an hour, but did not respond to the lock keeper's repeated VHF calls. When the skipper finally endeavoured to enter the lock, he seemed so overwhelmed by the task of guiding the ship that the lock keeper closed the gates again as a precaution and informed the authorities.
The Marechaussee and customs found three people on board with Turkish and Albanian nationality, one of whom was carrying a forged Italian identity card. In addition, twelve life jackets, flags of the United Kingdom and Belgium and various navigation materials were found. These were all indications that the sailing yacht was to be used for people smuggling.
The subsequent investigations led to a 40-year-old Dutchman who was arrested last Tuesday. During the search of the suspect's house, several mobile phones, tablets, cash, life jackets, a nautical navigation device, nautical charts, narcotics and various stabbing weapons were confiscated.
