Ship's captain arrested in smuggling investigation

The NCA said it had successfully disrupted an organised crime group suspected of smuggling people into the UK on ships

An organised crime group suspected of smuggling people into the UK on ships has been "successfully disrupted", according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

NCA officials said the Albanian-based group targeted smaller ports around the UK.

In an operation last August, five Albanian nationals were arrested at the port of Goole for immigration offences, and later released under investigation.

Three further arrests were made at the port on 19 June after the NCA targeted the same vessel, the agency added. Those arrested included the ship's 35-year-old Egyptian captain and an Albanian first mate, aged 40.

Both were detained on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration and later bailed pending further inquiries.

All crew members on the boat were also issued with notices refusing them entry to the UK, the NCA said.

Another Albanian national, who was on board but was not a member of crew, was arrested for immigration offences and detained pending removal from the UK.

The NCA said officers also carried out checks on other vessels arriving in Goole that were suspected of having links to the criminal gangs as part of the year-long investigation.

'Safeguarding our borders'

Senior investigating officer Carl Barrass said: "We assess that this investigation has successfully disrupted the activities of an organised crime group.

"By using smaller ports around the UK coastline they thought they could avoid border checks, but we have cut off that particular method for them."

The NCA said there were currently more than 70 investigations taking place into "high-level individuals" linked to human trafficking.

Bas Javid, director general of immigration enforcement at the Home Office, added: "This action underscores our unwavering commitment to dismantling smuggling networks and safeguarding our borders."

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