Overview
- At Portsmouth Crown Court, Vladyslav Cherniavskyi, 38, was sentenced to six years and Oleksandr Yavtushenko, 43, to five years after guilty pleas to three counts of assisting unlawful immigration.
- The yacht Uforia was intercepted on 20 July 2025 about 4.5 miles off Chichester in a joint National Crime Agency, Border Force and French operation before being escorted to Gosport.
- Prosecutors described a premium service charging up to 15,000 euros per place, with one migrant reporting a £16,000 fee, and said trips typically carried three to six people with evidence of at least eight crossings.
- Five people aboard that interception — four Albanian men and a Vietnamese girl — were detained, with three Albanians applying for asylum, one returned to his country, and the child placed in UK foster care.
- CCTV from France and Itchenor linked the men to the 2024 and 2025 journeys, and the judge condemned the operation as an insidious black market and indicated they will likely be deported after prison.