People-smugglers jailed over £1m trawler crossing
A GANG that plotted to bring thousands of migrants into the UK on a trawler had casinostyle money counting machines for their expected profits, a court heard yesterday.
The 100ft Svanic was due to make weekly crossings from Belgium, making up to £1million a time.
But the operation began to unravel when the boat ran aground on its journey from Latvia, where the criminals bought it.
The authorities began tracking the Svanic and monitored its maiden run from Ostend in November last year. It was approaching Great Yarmouth in Norfolk when Border Force officials and coastguards swooped and found 69 Albanian nationals on board. They had paid around £15,000 each.
Three crew were arrested and three others were detained in raids carried out by the National Crime Agency in June.
Checks revealed that the boat – chosen because it ‘looked like a regular trawler’ and was cheap – had just 20 lifejackets.
The gang were found to have money-counting machines to add up the vast sums they hoped to earn. Sentencing four Ukrainians and Latvians to a combined 36 years yesterday, Judge David Turner QC told Chelmsford Crown Court it was a ‘ghastly enterprise against the backdrop of a global pandemic’.
He said: ‘Big money was the hope. This was organised crime where the aim was gain and profit.
‘This was intended to be the first of many such journeys – the hope of 50 people a week and stellar profits, mercifully, were never realised.’
The six arrested men were charged with conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. Kfir Ivgi, 39, Sergejs Kuliss, 32, Alexandrs Gulpe, 44, and Igor Koysi, 57, were convicted following a trial.
Ivgi was jailed for ten years, Kuliss for nine and Koysi for seven. Gulpe will be sentenced later because he is isolating with Covid.
Artuas Jusas, 35, admitted the charge and was handed nine years and nine months. The sixth suspect was cleared. The five face deportation after serving their time. ÷ A LORRY driver has died in France after being attacked by migrants reportedly trying to reach Britain. The 48-year-old had a heart attack on Sunday after an altercation in his truck in Beuvrequen.