People smuggler who bragged about ferrying 50 migrants a week gets nearly 10 years inside
Crime gang caught smuggling 69 Albanians on rickety boat
Arthuras Jusas, 35, part of a ruthless smuggling ring, has been locked up for nine years and nine months after an attempted migrant run ended in disaster. The gang tried to sneak 69 Albanian migrants into the UK on a decrepit 60-year-old fishing vessel that ran aground twice before being caught near Norfolk.
The 30-metre converted trawler Svanic, equipped with only 21 life jackets and a lifeboat for 20, was intercepted off Great Yarmouth last November by coastguards and the National Crime Agency (NCA). The vessel had set off from Belgium’s Ostend area and was stopped before it could reach UK shores.
High-stakes operation exposed by international intelligence
The NCA was tipped off by the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre in Lisbon, following suspicious reports from Swedish authorities who had earlier assisted the boat after it ran aground 15 days prior to picking up migrants.
The vessel, bought in Latvia for just 20,000 euros back in October 2020, was crewed by three men from Ukraine and Latvia. They, along with Jusas and other gang members, were arrested on charges of facilitating illegal immigration.
Jusas boasted plans to smuggle 50 people every week
A laptop seized from the boat cracked the case wide open. Phone records revealed Jusas and co-conspirators—Latvian Sergejs Kuliss and Israeli Kfir Ivgi—spent weeks plotting the scheme, discussing boat purchases and target landing sites.
Jusas bragged in a message: “From first trip we’re going to get the money back.”
He also boasted of ambitions to “bring every week 50 people” into the UK. The gang zeroed in on Great Yarmouth as their landing spot despite the vessel’s dangerous lack of safety gear.
Justice served as gang members get heavy sentences
Following NCA raids in June, Jusas pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court in August. Ivgi, Kuliss, and others were convicted last month. Sentences handed down include:
- Kfir Ivgi (38) – 10 years
- Arthuras Jusas (35) – 9 years 9 months
- Sergejs Kuliss (33) – 9 years
- Alexsandrs Gulpe (43) – 8 years
- Igor Kosyi (57) – 7 years
Volodymyr Mykhailov was found not guilty.
NCA Director of Investigations Nikki Holland slammed the gang: “These men had no qualms about risking vulnerable migrants’ lives on an unseaworthy vessel for profit. We will relentlessly pursue people smugglers and ensure they face justice.”
This case shines a harsh light on the deadly realities behind migrant smuggling gangs targeting UK shores. The message is clear: law enforcement will keep fighting back against these callous criminals.
