Trawler ‘had 69 Albanian migrants but 20 life jackets’
SMUGGLERS who tried to bring 69 Albanian migrants into the UK on a converted fishing boat charged up to £15,000 per person, but had life jackets for only 20, a court was told.
Six men were charged after the 98ft trawler Svanic was intercepted by Border Force vessels en route from Belgium in November last year, and escorted to Harwich in Essex.
Three men on the boat were arrested when it reached land, followed by three ‘UK-based organisers’.
Prosecutor Tony Badenoch QC said the Svanic, built in 1962, had been converted to hold 19 berths and had ‘many faults’ – including only 20 life jackets for the 72 people on board. He said using a fishing vessel was a ‘sophisticated’ and ‘lucrative’ people-smuggling method.
‘The most common route for Albanian migrants entering the UK illegally from Belgium is in heavy goods vehicles, costing an estimated £2,000 to £3,000 per migrant, or in small boats such as rigid-hulled inflatable boats costing £2,000 to £4,100 per migrant,’ Mr Badenoch said. But he estimated the cost of a crossing of this kind would be around £15,000 per migrant.
A recording of a mobile phone call revealed a man calling for £40,000 of investment to bring 50 people on each trip, adding: ‘From the first trip we’re going to get the money back.’
Arturas Jusas, 35, of London, has admitted conspiring to assist unlawful immigration. Igor Kosyi, 56, and Volodymyr Mykhailov, 49, from Ukraine, Latvian Aleksandrs Gulpe, 44, and London-based Kfir Ivgi, 39, and Sergejs Kuliss, 32, deny the charge. The trial at Chelmsford crown court continues.