The Albanian yacht smuggling gang making FOUR trips to Britain in a month carrying illegal migrants and foreign criminals for £13,000 each

By RORY TINGLE, HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT Published: 00:09, 2 July 2026 | Updated: 00:20, 2 July 2026 An Albanian yacht smuggling gang has boasted of making four trips to Britain in a month - carrying illegal migrants and deported foreign criminals for £13,000 each.  Police are increasingly concerned about gangs using private boats to evade border controls by secretly landing migrants at quiet marinas on the south coast.  Convicted criminals are more likely to use yachts than asylum seekers, who typically identify themselves to officials when they arrive in order to lodge a claim. One people smuggling gang has been using TikTok to advertise '100 per cent secure' journeys to the UK from Belgium.  An undercover Albanian-speaking Daily Mail reporter contacted the account last weekend and was offered a seat on a yacht crossing this Tuesday.  A representative replied by claiming the gang had carried out 'four trips this month' and boasted of its success in using yachts to smuggle previously deported criminals and 'people wanted by police' into the UK.  'We take full responsibility for getting you to your destination,' the unnamed user wrote.  'The yacht is private and has a private docking space. On arrival, we drop off the boys and distribute them [to the British cities they want to go to].'  An advert by the gang offering two seats onboard a yacht to the UK with 'no  border controls'  Your browser does not support iframes. The undercover reporter claimed he had been in prison in the UK and asked whether the gang had successfully smuggled convicted criminals in the past.  'Yes - boys who have been in prison and had all sorts of problems have travelled on the yacht, even people wanted by the police,' the user replied.  The smuggler told the reporter he would be taken to London via taxi and could pay on arrival, with no money required upfront.  The account, @jahtuk4 (YachtUK4) opened June 6, 2026. The Mail alerted TikTok, who banned it for violating its rules against promoting human trafficking. The use of yachts to bring illegal migrants and drugs into the UK has caused alarm in law enforcement. While gangs typically dock at locations on the coast, there has been a shift towards sites located further inland. A National Crime Agency (NCA) campaign called Project Kraken seeks to encourage members of the public to report suspicious vessels.  Last month, five men were arrested after a yacht carrying seven Albanian nationals was stopped at Chichester marina in West Sussex - nearly five nautical miles inland. A union representing Border Force staff claims the Government has no grip on the crisis - with successful finds almost entirely dependent on tip-offs or luck.  They say this allows people who may have criminal records, have previously been deported, or are vulnerable to exploitation to enter the country unchecked. Lucy Moreton, professional officer at the Immigration Services Union, believes there are not enough resources to tackle the problem. 'The Government now willingly turns a blind eye,' she told the Daily Mail earlier this month. 'We know it [yacht smuggling] is happening, but we do not know the extent.' The posts come adorned with Union flags to attract illegal migrants or convicted criminals wanting to sneak into Britain    Last April, 20 people were found hiding in a yacht that had landed in Cornwall  In Chichester, five men were arrested last month after a yacht (pictured) carrying seven illegal Albanian migrants was intercepted in the city's marina She added that those arriving via yacht are typically not in the UK to claim asylum or register for benefits, instead 'they are coming to the UK for another reason and whatever the reason, it is not a good one'. Estimates show that while the cost of a place on a small boat hovers around £1,000 to £2,000, passage on a yacht is more in the region of £15,000.  The NCA is understood to have over 100 live investigations into what sources called 'the highest level of people smuggling' they have seen.  In a report last year, John Tuckett, the chief inspector of Borders and Immigration, said 'at the most basic level', Border Force did not even know how many locations could be used for illegal landings. He said Home Office Intelligence estimated that there were between 7,000 to 9,000. Mr Tuckett raised concerns about a declining Border Force budget, poor data collection and a reliance on voluntary declarations when yachts arrive at British ports. Small ports and airfields were first identified as a potential weakness in Britain's border security measures as long ago as 2002. Airmyn, a Yorkshire village with a population of just 800, has been flagged as one location for 'suspicious' vessels - despite being some 35 miles from the coast. The village, which sits on the River Ouse, has seen posters erected asking locals to consider if they've spotted 'boats arriving at unusual times'. In July last year, a yacht was stopped by Border Force officials near the Isle of Wight. It was hiding four Albanian nationals and a lone Vietnamese girl One smuggling trip ended in Rye, East Sussex, last year after the yacht they were in ran aground, prompting those on board to make a break for the river bank  The National Crime Agency has even begun installing signs in villages warning residents to report suspicious looking boats. Pictured is a poster in Airmyn, Yorkshire In July last year, a yacht was stopped by Border Force officials near the Isle of Wight after French authorities raised concerns about the craft. Inside, they found four Albanian men and a lone Vietnamese girl, who was later placed into foster care.  Vladyslav Cherniavskyi, 38, and Oleksandr Yavtushenko, 43, were jailed in March over their 'premium service' which saw them carry out at least eight smuggling trips before they were caught.  Another boat ran aground in Rye, East Sussex, while carrying 14 migrants, prompting them to jump overboard and run for the river bank. It sailed straight past the local harbour office and downriver before becoming stuck after arriving late on the tide in February 2022. Fourteen people, including two children, from Iran, Iraq and Albania were later detained by Border Force. Another group of migrants were only discovered because their boat developed a mechanical fault while off the coast of Devon and they needed rescuing. Rasty Hassan, 27, who had six failed asylum applications to the UK, was aboard the vessel with a group that included an Iraqi family with four children, one just ten months old. A lifeboat crew from Brixham launched a rescue mission after receiving a distress call from crew, but were refused access to the ship. Instead, they towed the vessel nine miles to Brixham Marina, where Hassan was arrested. He was later jailed for two years.  A separate case saw Albanian national Bleda Bega jailed for more than seven years after being found at the helm of a ship stopped by Border Force last April. Hidden below the deck in cramped and dangerous conditions were 20 men and one woman.  An NCA spokesman said: 'Tackling organised immigration crime remains a top priority for the NCA, and we are putting more resource into targeting the criminal networks behind it than ever before.  'We continue to work closely with the social media companies to remove this material and we have positive dialogue with them. But we are clear that more needs to be done to stop platforms being used to advertise criminal services.'  A Home Office spokesperson said: 'This Government is bearing down on small boat crossings. 'We have made it illegal to promote unlawful immigration services online and worked with major social media companies, alongside the NCA, to remove more than 33,000 online adverts promoting dangerous small boat crossings. 'This builds on our work with France to prevent over 45,000 illegal crossing attempts since the election.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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