Suspected Albanian people smugglers have been arrested after migrants were found concealed on a yacht headed for the South Coast of Britain.
The large luxury vessel is believed to have sailed from Brest, France and was intercepted in the English Channel en route to Newquay on Sunday.
When Border Force officers searched the yacht they found 20 passengers hidden below deck.
All are thought to be Albanian nationals. The 19 men and one woman have been detained pending removal from the UK, a Home Office spokesman said.
Albanian national Bleda Bega, 44, has been charged with “facilitation of illegal entry” into the country in connection with the incident.
He was remanded in custody to appear at Bodmin Law Courts. Two other men, also Albanian nationals, were arrested on suspicion of the same offence.
One was released from the criminal investigation, but has been detained as he is illegally in the UK, the Home Office confirmed.
An investigation is ongoing.
Government data, published on Monday, shows that there were no small boat crossings on April 13. Those discovered on the yacht were not included in Sunday’s figures.
However 11 vessels, containing 656 people, made the journey across the Channel on Saturday - the highest number in a single day this year.
Provisional data suggests a record number of migrants have come to the UK in small boats this year, with more than 8,000 people arriving in the first four months of 2025.
This is 46% higher than at the same point last year when 5,517 people had made the crossing. It is 65% higher than at this stage in 2023.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.
“That’s why this government has put forward a serious, credible plan to finally restore order to our asylum system, including tougher enforcement powers, ramping up returns to their highest levels for more than half a decade and a major crackdown on illegal working to end the false promise of jobs used by gangs to sell spaces on boats.
“Our Border Force teams also maintain constant vigilance over attempts to enter the UK illegally, using state of the art technology and surveillance capabilities.
“Anyone who seeks to smuggle people into the country in this way faces arrest, prosecution and a jail sentence.”
