Albanian fisherman admits to 'brazen attempt' to smuggle 17 migrants into Britain onboard yacht

An Albanian fisherman has pleaded guilty to smuggling 16 men and a boy into Britain on board a yacht.

Eno Gajda was caught after the yacht he captained sailed from Dielette, France, bound for Portland, Dorset, on August 27.

A spokesman for the National Crime Agency said that the occupants were dealt with by immigration authorities and its officers questioned Gajda.

The 58-year-old appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court on Monday, where he pleaded guilty to facilitating illegal immigration, and he is set to be sentenced on November 18.

NCA Branch Commander Andy Tickner said: "This was a brazen attempt to smuggle a group of vulnerable migrants to the UK.

"Although Gajda had some experience at sea, navigating across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes was highly dangerous and put many lives at risk.

“Targeting people smugglers like this remains a priority for the NCA."

He added: "We’re doing all we can to disrupt and dismantle the gangs involved, wherever they operate."

Officers from Border Security Command (BSC) boarded the yacht and escorted it into Portland Marina Harbour where the Albanian migrants were removed.

BSC Director of Maritime and Small Boats Charlie Eastaugh said: "This conviction is a testament to the outstanding work of Border Security Command officers and National Crime Agency investigators.

"People smugglers care about profit, not the lives they put at risk. We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to bring them to justice."

It comes as people smuggling gangs are changing their tactics to avoid British surveillance operations in the Channel and patrols on the beaches of northern France.

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Smuggling networks have shifted to launching dinghies from locations farther along the coastline.

New launch sites include Belgium and Normandy, the latter involving a journey of nearly 60 nautical miles.

Speaking to the Home Affairs select committee last week, Britain’s Border Force commander Major General Duncan Capps warned a "mass casualty" event was now inevitable given the "increasing size and occupancy of boats" helping migrants break into Britain.

He said: "If people try that in the winter, we are going to have loss of life. You will have seen this year we had a boat with 230 people in it."

The border chief explained that many on the journey come from "countries that we don't have returns agreements with," making removal through conventional channels all but impossible.

He pointed to the now-closed one-in-one-out arrangement with France as having made a "big difference because it allowed us to return Afghans, Iranians, Yemenis, Somalians in a way that we weren't able to do before."

He added that joining a broader European returns agreement could significantly ease the task, and indicated that the Home Office might also revisit the concept of foreign returns hubs.

Andy Burnham has claimed small boat crossings are falling significantly under his Government, telling GB News: "The numbers can fluctuate but overall boat crossings are down, down quite significantly year on year. So that does suggest that the plan is working."

The Prime Minister has vowed to step up action against people-smuggling gangs, telling the People's Channel: "We will now change our tactics and we will be relentless in chasing them down."