Seven Iraqi illegal immigrants found hiding in lorry bound for Yorkshire

Jeni Harvey

IRAQI stowaways attempting to enter Britain illegally have been found hiding in a lorry heading for South Yorkshire.

The Romanian lorry driver, who was carrying a load of stainless steel, was stopped by UK Border Agency officers in Calais, France, on Monday, February 15.

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When his lorry was inspected by the officers they found that the padlock securing the hard-sided trailer had been tampered with, allowing people to hide in the vehicle.

Seven Iraqi nationals were then discovered hidden in the load, which was destined for an address in Rotherham.

The stowaways were taken off the vehicle, fingerprinted, photographed, refused entry to the UK and then handed over to the French frontier police.

The lorry was allowed to continue its journey to the UK, although the driver and Romanian-registered operating haulage company could now each be liable for a 2,000 civil penalty if it is found that they did not take adequate steps to secure the vehicle.

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The director of Border Force European operations, Tom Dowdall, said: “Finds such as this one highlight the determination and expertise required by UK Border Agency officers to stay one step ahead of illegal immigration.

“In 2009 we stopped more than 29,000 individual attempts to cross the channel illegally and searched over 1,000,000 freight vehicles.”

Officers with the UK Border Agency are based at ports in France and Belgium, equipped with hi-tech search equipment and extra powers to combat immigration crime, to try to stop illegal immigrants before they set foot in this country.

Specially-trained officers deploy an array of search techniques including human detection dogs, carbon dioxide detectors and heartbeat monitors, as well as visual searches, to find well-hidden stowaways.

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Mr Dowdall added: “The UK Border Agency’s strong presence at the frontier, not only in the UK but also in northern France, helps protect the whole country from people illegally entering the UK and then heading for towns and cities across Britain – in this case Rotherham.”