GREEDY smuggling gangs are cramming ever more migrants into small boats — as the Government’s excuse for record arrivals was sunk.
The number of dinghies carrying 80 or more people tripled in just one year.
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In the 12 months to April, there were 33 compared to 11 in 2024 and just one in 2023.
And there were 312 boats carrying 60 or more compared to 153 the year before.
The dangerous squeeze emerged yesterday when the Home Office published for the first time data on both the number of migrants-per-boat and how weather affected the crisis.
Labour has tried to blame recent sunny spells for a higher number of migrants completing Channel crossings.
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They pointed out the last year saw 190 so-called calmer “red days” — up from 106.
But Sky News research showed that in rougher conditions small boat journeys were still up 30 per cent.
Last night, the Home Office said smugglers overloading boats was “all the more reason why we should crack down on their vile trade”.
Afghans Shah Salim Sajjadi, 38, and Safiollah Mohammadi, 25, were yesterday jailed for eights months each in Folkestone after a woman and child died in the overcrowded Channel dinghy they captained.
A probe into the deaths continues.
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