Two Ukrainian nationals have appeared in court charged with smuggling migrants into the UK onboard a yacht.
Vladyslav Cherniavskyi, 37, and Oleksandr Yavtushenko, 43, appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court charged with facilitating illegal immigration.
The charges follow the interception of a yacht off the coast of the Isle of Wight on July 20 in an operation involving the National Crime Agency (NCA), Border Force and French law enforcement, which saw the vessel escorted into Gosport Marina, Hampshire.
Four migrants, three Albanian males and a Vietnamese female, were handed over to the immigration authorities, according to the NCA.
Judge David Melville KC adjourned the hearing until October 3 with a trial date set for January 12.
He said: “This hearing will be adjourned until October 3, both defendants will be remanded in custody.”
