Albanian fisherman pleads guilty to smuggling 17 migrants to Dorset by yacht

Right · 2Eno Gajda, a 58-year-old Albanian fisherman, pleaded guilty to facilitating illegal immigration after captaining a yacht carrying 16 men and a boy from France to the Dorset coast. 1 2 Right · 2The 40ft yacht sailed from Dielette, France, on a course for the coast near Portland, and was intercepted on 27 August, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA). 2 1 Right · 2Border Security Command (BSC) officers boarded the yacht, arrested Gajda and escorted the vessel into Portland Marina Harbour, where the 16 Albanian men and one boy were removed and dealt with by immigration authorities; NCA officers questioned Gajda. 2 1

Right · 2He appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court on Monday 26 October and is due to be sentenced there on 18 November. 1 2 Right · 2NCA Branch Commander Andy Tickner called it a "brazen attempt to smuggle a group of vulnerable migrants" and said that although Gajda had some experience at sea, crossing one of the world's busiest shipping lanes was highly dangerous and put many lives at risk. 1 2 Right · 2Charlie Eastaugh, BSC Director of Maritime and Small Boats, said the conviction was a testament to the work of BSC officers and NCA investigators and that smugglers "care about profit, not the lives they put at risk". 1 2

Right · 1GB News adds wider context: smuggling gangs are reportedly shifting dinghy launches to Belgium and Normandy to avoid UK surveillance, and Border Force commander Major General Duncan Capps told the Home Affairs select committee a "mass casualty" event was now inevitable given the increasing size and occupancy of boats. 1 Right · 1GB News also reports that Andy Burnham told it small boat crossings are down significantly year on year, which he said suggests the plan is working, and that the Prime Minister has vowed to "change our tactics" against smuggling gangs. 1