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Ukrainian migrant smuggler deported from the UK
Overview
A Ukrainian national involved in a people-smuggling operation using a private yacht has been deported from the UK after serving part of a six-year prison sentence.
Key points
- Vladyslav Cherniavskyi was deported in September after being jailed at Portsmouth Crown Court in March.
- He and another Ukrainian man were convicted of plotting to smuggle migrants into the UK from northern France on a £15,000 yacht.
- The yacht was intercepted by a Border Force cutter off the Isle of Wight.
- Cherniavskyi pleaded guilty to offences committed over a two-year period, including smuggling a woman with a child and an unaccompanied Vietnamese girl.
- Prosecutors described the operation as an illegal migrant taxi service run for financial gain.