Overview
- Officials say organised crime groups are courting lorry drivers with offers of thousands of pounds to hide migrants in otherwise legitimate loads.
- Nine HGV drivers were arrested in Kent between July and October after attempts to board ferries or trains with people concealed in vehicles.
- At Dover in August, 44 Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals were found in a trailer, and driver Iona Monescu was jailed for three years on September 25.
- The NCA cites around 100 ongoing probes into top-tier organised immigration crime and notes the same drivers and methods are used to move people both into and out of the UK.
- Authorities urge haulage workers to report suspicious approaches via police or Crimestoppers, reinforcing an industry outreach campaign with Border Force.