The record-breaking mega-dinghy which reached Britain with 230 migrants was originally carrying more than 260 passengers including children when it almost sank, it has emerged. With 130 people aboard, the dinghy had more passengers onboard than the capacity of a Boeing 737 jet. People traffickers are thought to charge around £2,000 a head for illegal passage to Britain, meaning the dinghy could have made the criminals a staggering £450,000 profit. 'I recently saw for myself French gendarmes shamefully standing by and doing nothing while illegal immigrants boarded in knee-deep water. He continually denied any wrongdoing, arguing that he was a legitimate asylum seeker who wanted to settle in the UK.