Drivers arrested as 11 found in back of lorry
A police swoop on a container lorry in Northamptonshire found 11 suspected illegal immigrants inside - including four juveniles.
The discovery came as new figures revealed Northamptonshire has one of the highest number of illegal immigration drop-off rates in the country.
The statistics show that last year there were 255 recorded drop-offs at the Bedford immigration enforcement centre area, which includes Northamptonshire, with 27 lorry drops recorded in this county alone.
Last night, police said 11 people jumped from the back of a lorry that had stopped in Wellingborough on Tuesday.
A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police said: "Police were called and established that given the kind of lock on the sealed rigid container, it was unlikely that the people could have got in or sealed themselves inside without help from someone with a key.
"As a result, the two lorry drivers, men from Slovakia, have been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking. The 11 people were thought to be from Iraq or Iran.
"They were held on suspicion of illegal entry into the UK and the Border and Immigration Agency was contacted."
Seven of the 11 suspected illegal immigrants were taken away to be dealt with appropriately while the remaining four, who were juveniles, were handed into the care of Social Services.
MPs Sally Keeble and Brian Binley have written to chief constable Peter Maddison urging him to help set up an immigration crime team in partnership with local authorities.
Mrs Keeble, the MP for Northampton North, said the figures, which put Bedford as the third highest centre for illegal immigrants in Britain, underlined a need to create a co-ordinated approach to deal with the problem.
She said: "The current situation is just not acceptable. Illegal immigration is organised crime, it is not just a few people coming here in a shambolic way. A lot of these people have been trafficked into the country."
MP for Northampton South Brian Binley said: "This is all about keeping our eyes open and learning how to spot illegal immigration when it happens.
"There is no unwillingness on the part of the police, but they have been left without the funds necessary to deal with it."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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