Illegal immigrants discovered in lorry during police checks (From Thurrock Gazette)
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Illegal immigrants discovered in lorry during police checks
5:37pm Saturday 23rd June 2012 in News By Jasmin McDermott
POLICE discovered 12 illegal immigrants from Vietnam, Iran and Iraq inside a lorry during routine road safety checks in Thurrock.
Officers stopped a 40-tonne lorry from the Republic of Ireland at Thurrock’s MOTO Services when they made the discovery.
While speaking to the Polish driver cops heard banging from the trailer and opened it up.
Inside they found seven immigrants from Vietnam, four from Iran and one from Iraq.
All 12 were arrested along with the driver and handed over to UK Border Agency officials.
A total of £1,700 was issued in fines for various motoring offences during Operation Mermaid, a road safety operation on Thursday.
Lorry drivers were found to have been on the road for a dangerously-high number of hours and 11 were prosecuted for being a total of 98 hours over their allocated time.
