Boat skipper charged with smuggling eight Albanians into UK
A 64-year-old man has been charged with facilitating illegal entry to the UK following the discovery of eight Albanian migrants on board a motor cruiser in the English Channel.
The vessel was intercepted by a Border Force cutter off the coast of West Sussex on Wednesday afternoon and taken into Portsmouth, where the seven adults and one minor on board were handed to immigration authorities.
Boat skipper Charles Edward Lynch, of no fixed abode, was charged by the National Crime Agency late last night and is due to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court this morning.
NCA operations manager Martin Matthews said: ‘The NCA works closely with our law enforcement partners to protect our borders, and targeting and disrupting criminal groups involved in people smuggling is one of our highest priorities.’