Hastings Arrest On Suspicion Of Supplying Boats To People Smugglers

A 30-year-old man has been arrested in Hastings on suspicion of supplying small boats to aid people smugglers in France.

Officers from the National Crime Agency detained the 30-year-old in Hastings, at around 9am on Friday morning (16 October).

They added he was released under investigation yesterday (18 October).

Shortly after the arrest, a property on Battle Road was searched.

The operation was supported by officers from Sussex Police.

The NCA investigation relates to the sale and distribution of vessels sourced in the UK, and subsequently taken to France to be used in cross-Channel facilitation attempts.

Officers suspect the individual concerned of being linked to a number of vessels which have been used in crossings by migrants.

One such vessel was recovered from St Margaret’s Bay in Kent on 2 September, a day in which around 400 people reached the UK using small boats.

Police said the investigation is being supported by Project Invigor, the immigration crime taskforce led by the NCA, but also including Immigration Enforcement, Border Force and the CPS, and also French law enforcement.

Separately, four men have been charged as part of a National Crime Agency investigation targeting people smugglers.

Two Albanian brothers, Arben Cakici, 48, and Astrit Cakici, 37, from Barking and Newham, who were living illegally in the UK, have been charged with facilitating illegal entry into the UK and possessing a firearm.

Arben also faces a charge for carrying a knife.

The NCA made a series of arrests on Friday after witnessing what is believed to have been a handover of four migrants from a lorry into two cars, near a service station in Kent at around 8am.

Two Romanian lorry drivers arrested at the scene, Ionut Colibei, 34, and Valerica Prutearu, 41, are also charged with facilitating illegal entry into the UK. Colibei was also charged for being in possession of a knife.

The four men will appear at a virtual court today (19 October).

Searches in Newham on Friday also led to a further arrest of a 45-year old man from Albania, wanted for unrelated offences.

Four Albanian migrants, aged between 20 to 35, who were arrested on Friday are now being dealt with by Immigration Enforcement.

NCA Regional Head of Investigations Andrea Wilson said:

“The organised crime groups involved in people smuggling are cynical in their exploitation of migrants, and are happy to put them in incredibly dangerous and life-threatening situations, either in boats or in the back of lorries.

“We believe this activity will significantly disrupt at least two such networks.

“Working with partners we are determined to do all we can to disrupt and dismantle the criminals behind these crossings, and our investigation into this particular criminal enterprise continues.”