A luxury yacht named Tacoma sailed out of a smart French marina in April, supposedly for a jaunt along the Brittany coast.
The sleek blue and white vessel worth £70,000 had been hired by man with an Austrian passport from a reputable boat charter company operating at a quayside office in Brest.
'The renter's credentials were checked by us,' Valery Roue, co-owner of the Eridan charter company, told the Mail this week.
'His passport, his identity details, his maritime certificate. Everything seemed in order. This Austrian hired the yacht for a two-week local sailing holiday with friends. Or that is what he told us.'
What actually happened next to the six-berth Tacoma is a shocking tale that exposes how pleasure yachts hired in France are being stolen by criminal gangs to bring illegal migrants here.
