Gangs charging £900 to fly illegal immigrants into the UK
Illegal immigrants are being flown into the UK in business class on light aircrafts by smuggling gangs who charge up to £900 a seat.
Two British pilots were arrested this month, after allegedly trying to fly in 14 Albanians from Holland, according to The Sun.
Three children were said to be among the passengers that the suspects, aged 47 and 62, planned to take from Holland in a hired eight-seated vessel.
Lithuanian pilot Algirdas Barteska, 60, who was caught people smuggling when he flew three Albanian illegal immigrants to remote Seething airfield, Norfolk
The Cessna aircraft used by Lithuanian Algirdas Barteska. He was caught after Border Force officials acting on a tip off were lying in wait for him as he landed at a remote airfield
The pilots, who have not been named, flew to Holland from Lydd, Kent before they were arrested this month.
Their aircraft was one of at least three that has been stopped by officials this year.
It is feared that hundreds of migrants could be planning to use the planes to enter the country illegally.
But former UK Border Force boss Tony Smith told the newspaper: ‘It’s a worry. Traffickers are increasingly desperate because of tougher controls at places like Calais.
‘Some migrants are prepared to pay more to guarantee getting to the UK. It costs a lot of money to run a small aircraft.’
Approximately 30 airstrips in the South East are thought to be particularly vulnerable to smugglers, because they have no protection from over-stretched border officials.
A Dutch Judge has since remanded the British suspects in custody.
‘This was a sophisticated plan and more wide-ranging than these initial arrests,’ a Dutch source said.
‘There is a network operating in Britain to get people into the country illegally and the criminal gangs behind it are making a lot of money.’
The arrests come at a time when Britain’s borders appear to be increasingly vulnerable. Pictured, migrants seen around truck stops in Calais
An official report revealed that nearly half the entry points on the east coast were not visited by Border Force staff for more than a year
Calais Dunkirk Airport airport, just a few miles away from the now cleared 'Jungle' migrant camp
The arrests come at a time when Britain’s borders appear to be increasingly vulnerable.
Earlier this month, an official report revealed that nearly half the entry points on the east coast were not visited by Border Force staff for more than a year.
Twenty-seven out of 62 small ports had been unguarded for fifteen months from April 2015 to June 2016.
Earlier this month, UK nationals Edward Buckley, 45, and David Green, 53, were jailed for 30 months for attempting to fly four illegal Albanian immigrants to the UK on a Cessna 172.Â
Earlier this year, Lithuanian Algirdas Barteska, 60, was jailed for six years after he was caught landing his Albanian passengers at a remote airfield.
Officers watched as he helped one man and a mother and her five-year-old daughter climb out of his Cessna light aircraft with their bags and a suitcase at the private member's flying club in Seething, Norfolk.
Two of the Border Force staff then sprinted after his plane as it taxied along at around 6mph to take off again and banged on the cockpit window to force him to stop. Â
Barteska was arrested and was found to be carrying 5,000 euros in 500 euro notes which were said to be his fee for bringing in the man and the woman and her daughter on June 24 last year.Â
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
0 Response to "Gangs charging £900 to fly illegal immigrants into the UK"
Posting Komentar