Two Ukrainian men charged with people smuggling offences are due in court today.

Denys Khvatkov and Bohdan Lutskyi were arrested following an operation by Border Force officers at Southwold Harbour earlier this year.

The pair have been charged with facilitating a breach of UK immigration laws and are due to appear at Norwich Crown Court.

A Border Force spokesman previously confirmed the pair had been charged following an “immigration enforcement investigation into a suspected small boat people smuggling incident in Southwold.”

Khvatkov, 19, and 29-year-old Lutskyi were arrested on Friday, July 31 after a Border Force cutter had targeted a yacht as it sailed from the Netherlands towards the east coast of the UK.

When the sailing vessel moored at Southwold Harbour shortly after 9pm, Border Force officers boarded the yacht and found four people – Khvatkov, Lutskyi, and two Albanian nationals with no leave to enter the UK.

Following the arrests, the case was referred to the Home Office Immigration Enforcement department’s criminal and financial investigation team.