A man has been charged with people smuggling offences as part of a National Crime Agency investigation into the cross-Channel transport of migrants using a pleasure boat.
Tony Williams, 58, from Lydford in Devon, has been charged with conspiracy to facilitate illegal immigration and assisting illegal immigration.
He is alleged to have used a pleasure craft to transport at least ten migrants from Normandy in June 2022. A number of people were seen running to waiting cars after leaving a boat as it moored at Slapton Sands in Devon.
Williams will next appear at Exeter Crown Court on 30 October.
Andy Macgill, from the NCA, said: “This investigation has examined the use of a pleasure boat which we believe was used to cross the Channel and bring people into the UK illegally.
“Tackling organised immigration crime continues to be a priority for the National Crime Agency and we will work with partners in the UK and overseas to target crime groups at every step of the route.”
4 October 2023