Two Ukrainian men who frequently sneaked migrants into the UK aboard a $20,000 yacht have been convicted, BBC reported.
The yacht called, ‘Uforia’ was stopped at sea by a Border Force unit in July. The two Ukrainian crew member Oleksandr Yavtushenko and Vladyslav Cherniavskyi had pleaded guilty to three charges of facilitating unlawful immigration, but Portsmouth Crown Court heard they had made at least eight crossings over the English Channel.
In sentencing Cherniavskyi and Yavtushenko to six and five years respectively, the judge stated they were involved in “an insidious black market, draining families of money and perpetuating the misery of illegal immigration”.
The perpetrators were captured after Border Force intercepted the boat, Uforia, near the Isle of Wight on 20 July 2025 as part of a joint operation.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) ordered the Border Force to intercept the vessel, after a tip-off from authorities in France.
A squad from the cutter HMC Seeker spotted four Albanian men and a young lone Vietnamese female onboard before taking the vessel to Haslar Marina in Gosport.
One of the Albanian guys, Pellumb Selimi was detained for failing to appear in court in connection with drug convictions and has since been deported. The three others are appealing for asylum in the UK and the Vietnamese girl, whose age is unknown, is currently in foster care.
A Frequent Operation
In August 2024, the men were seen by other sailors making a “clumsy attempt” to moor the boat in Itchenor, Chichester Harbour, when six persons were seen departing. The pair also brought a man, mother and child from France to the same seaport in June 2025.
The migrants are reported to have paid up to 16,000 euros per journey, however the amount the guys received from that is unknown.
The NCA, which spearheaded the operation, said the individuals were members of an organised crime group and had been involved in past smuggling operations. The NCA was continuing to work with its partners to identify other members of the organization.
Although the government gives periodic updates on small boat crossings, the data is confined to people going illegally across the narrowest region of the English Channel between northern France and Kent.
Migrants arriving in other regions on England on yachts, motor cruisers, tugs and fishing vessels are excluded from the data.
Home Office files indicate illegal migration on such vessels is infrequent. However, other experts think smuggling immigrants into minor ports and harbours is a “very real threat”.
The UK Coastline: an Ideal Location for Smuggling
The extent of the UK coastline and remoteness of some of the locations where small vessels can arrive creates opportunities for smugglers of goods and people. That’s according to an inspection carried out by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI).
The findings came just days after a previous border watchdog, John Vine, warned BBC that smuggling people and drugs into the UK using yachts was a real threat.
The Home Office said work is already underway to address several of the concerns raised.
