UK Border Police Stop 25 Illegal Emigrants on Lorry

It now seems that border police were able to discover and stop 25 would be illegal emigrants that were crammed between bottles of wine in the back of a lorry as they attempted to enter the UK. The 25 emigrants were men from Afghanistan, Syria and Iran. They were discovered in Dunkirk, France by the UK Border Agency.

The men were discovered last Friday by a sniffer dog that was checking vehicles before they boarded ferries bound for Dover. Officers then opened the Czech lorry and found the foreign nationals, including a father and his sons, concealed among bottles of wine and olive oil.

The wine was due to be delivered to a depot in Weston super Mare. The stowaways were all handed to the French border police. The driver of the vehicle and the haulage company now face a potential fine if they are unable to prove they took steps to secure the vehicle.

The UK Border Agency's director of European operations, Tom Dowdall, said that this is exactly why they base so many of their staff in France and Belgium. They do it to stop emigrants before they can even reach the UK. This is also why they use sniffer dogs, so that their staff are able to detect people hiding in lorries quickly.

Throughout 2009, more than 29,000 people attempted to cross the Channel illegally and were prevented. Louis is one of over 100 sniffer dogs used by the UK Border Agency to protect the border and enforce the law. The sniffer dogs make it easy and quick for the UK borer Agency to do their job.