Britain wants to build ‘Al Capone’ cases against migrant smugglers to stop them exploiting loopholes in German law, the Daily Express can reveal.

The National Crime Agency is examining other areas of their business for weaknesses, it is understood.

Some of the organized crime networks are believed to be investing their smuggling profits in drug and arms trafficking in Europe.

And the NCA is looking into whether these higher-risk activities could provide a crucial opening to catch the gangs and prevent more deaths in the Channel.

It comes amid growing frustration from the Interior Ministry over German laws that say it is not illegal to facilitate people-trafficking to a third country outside the EU.

The Daily Express understands there is some frustration over a law that says it is not illegal to store giant dinghies in warehouses in western Germany.

Because government officials believe they are unlikely to be able to persuade Berlin to rewrite its laws, law enforcement chiefs believe that expanding their investigations into the smuggling rings could be more effective in disrupting them.

An insider said: “If these people weren’t trafficking people, they would be trafficking drugs or guns.

“They can store the boats in Germany because it’s not illegal to store the boats. But if they were used for people-trafficking and were on the water, they could be confiscated.”

Notorious gangster Al Capone ran a crime empire involving murder, drug dealing, prostitution, robbery, bootlegging, “protection rackets” and gambling in Chicago in the 1920s.

But he was sentenced to seven years in prison for tax evasion. And Whitehall officials pointed to the case as an example of how they could build cases against people traffickers.

Around 56 migrants have died trying to reach the UK this year.

The BBC on Friday revealed how the German city of Essen, just four hours from Calais, has become a key hub for smugglers who orchestrate their nefarious trade.

Germany is a key transit country for smugglers bringing boats and engines to the French coast, with networks known to use warehouses for their equipment.

Thousands of migrants also pass through the country, with organized crime gangs using safe houses near Bonn, Cologne, Frankfurt, Essen, Dusseldorf, Bochum and Dortmund.

The criminals admitted to using several warehouses in Essen, sometimes providing “bait” to the German police. Thus, the gangsters allow the authorities to seize boats and equipment – ​​but not enough to disrupt their businesses.

Smugglers also boasted undercover BBC reporter that they could get boats and equipment into northern France within four hours, meaning they are comfortable using the motorway networks to cross the border.

They said a boat, motor and 60 life jackets would cost £12,500 if they organized a crossing themselves. And they suggested that a “new crossing point” is not being monitored as much by French police.

A former Home Office official said: “The German government is among the most useless in stopping the boats. Most of the boat equipment goes through Germany and they have done almost nothing to stop the smuggling gangs.”

Robert Bates, director of research at the Center for Migration Control, told the Daily Express: “At every step of the operation, organized crime is two or three steps ahead of the authorities.

“Whether it’s the use of agents to process migrants’ cash payments, the clandestine transport of ships from Turkey, discreetly stored in German warehouses and then driven to the French coast, or the highly secretive means by which gangs communicate with . customers, the take home message is that Yvette Cooper and Keir Starmer fails.

“And that’s because they misdiagnosed the problem. These gangs charge as little as £1,660 and have plenty of potential customers. Even if mainland authorities manage to dump a few boats or confiscate a few engines, that simply means the gangs will cram a few more migrants onto those undetected boats.

“Contractors are frankly smarter and more determined than our politicians. Until we have a government that actually wants to solve the problem, rather than producing platitudes to please the Refugee Council and left-wing lawyers, then the gangs will continue to amass small fortunes.”

Charities working in France have identified vehicles with Belgian, German and Dutch registration numbers at a notorious migrant camp near Dunkirk.

Researchers from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime said: “Contractors will rent a property in these cities and fill it with migrants or use an intermediary who can provide a property.

“Some migrants, however, choose to stay closer to coastal areas, often in hotels that are known to host almost exclusively low-level migrants, refugees and traffickers during the summer months when weather conditions are more conducive to crossing.

“These hotels are among the cheaper options on offer and in some cases appear to offer additional services such as sending migrants’ luggage to the UK on arrival.

“They also act as recruitment centers for smugglers, and some hotels offer discounted accommodation for the smugglers’ clients.”