SVANIC

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Four men found guilty of human smuggling

Four men, Kfir Ivgi, 39, Sergejs Kuliss, 32, Alexsandrs Gulpe, 44, and Igor Koysi, 57, were found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and have been jailed for up to 10 years each for trying to smuggle 69 Albanian nationals into the UK aboard the 'Svanic' which was intercepted off the Norfolk coast by Border Force on Nov 17, 2020 and taken to Harwich, Essex, where the migrants were found. The ship had spent 14 hours at sea from Belgium. A fifth man was unable to attend the sentencing due to being in isolation in prison with Covid-19 symptoms. Authorities were first alerted to the people-smuggling operation after reports of suspicious activity when the vessel ran aground off the coast of Sweden 15 days earlier. The fishing vessel had been made to look innocuous in a North Sea context and was intercepted with the help of coastguards as it approached Great Yarmouth. It was then escorted to Harwich, where 69 people were found crammed in its hold. The migrants had been rounded up and made to board the vessel in Ostend, Belgium, with weapons seemingly produced by some organisers. Arturas Jusas, 35, of Wandsworth Road, Lambeth in south London, was sentenced to nine years and nine months in prison. Ivgi, of Corrigan Close, Finchley in north London, was jailed for 10 years and Kuliss, of Albert Basin Way, Newham, east London, was sentenced to nine years. The Ukrainian national Kosyi received a seven-year sentence. Gulpe, a Latvian national, is due to be sentenced at a later date.

Three men charged for human smuggling

Three people accused of smuggling 69 Albanian nationals into Essex on a fishing boat have been charged on June 10. On November 17, 2020, the 'Svanic' was intercepted by the National Crime Agency (NCA) off the coast of East Anglia and brought into the Harwich International Port. NCA agents inspecting the vessel found 69 Albanian nationals aboard. All of them were arrested, in addition to three crew members, two of whom were from Ukraine and one from Latvia. Following further investigation, the NCA made further arrests in connection with the incident this week. On June 8, the 34-year-old Lithuanian national Arturas Jusas of Wandsworth Road, Lambeth, 32-year-old Israeli national Kfir Ivgi, living in Corrigan Close, Finchley and 39-year-old Sergejs Kuliss, of Hartlake Road, Tonbridge in Kent were arrested during NCA raids across the south east. On June 10 they appeared at Southend Magistrates Court and were charged with conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration. NCA Regional Head of Investigation Jacque Beer said: "Those arrested today are suspected of having played a key role in the events which led up to the interception of the Svanic in November last year. This was a serious attempt to breach the UK’s border controls, and our investigation into that incident continues."

Kent man charged over people smuggling plot

A Kent man is accused of masterminding a plot to smuggle 69 Albanians into the UK aboard the 'Svanic'. Sergejs Kuliss, 39, of Hartlake Road, Tonbridge, was arrested alongside alleged accomplices 34-year-old Lithuanian Arturas Jusas, of Lambeth, and Israeli Kfir Ivgi, 32, of Finchley, during a series of raids on June 9. All three have now been charged with conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration and will appear at Southend Magistrates' Court. The operation follows the interception of the 'Svanic' off the coast of East Anglia on Nov 17, 2020, as part of a joint operation involving the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force. The boat had sailed from the Ostend area. It was escorted into Harwich where the three crew, a Latvian national and two Ukrainian nationals, were arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration. They were subsequently charged.