Dutch police have arrested a suspected major supplier of small boats to human traffickers in Belgium and northern France, used to smuggle people across the Channel to the United Kingdom, the European justice body Eurojust said in a statement on Thursday.

Dutch police arrested a suspected major supplier of small boats used to smuggle migrants across the Channel, which has seen more than 50 people dying attempting to reach Britain this year, Eurojust said Thursday.

A man suspected of being a significant supplier of small boats equipment to people smugglers has been arrested. The Turkish national, 44, was detained at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam on Wednesday, as part of an operation involving the National Crime Agency and Dutch and Belgian partners.