CARGO
Page 32
Page 33
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
COF
MISERY
Smuggling illegal immigrants equals big bucks. Worldwide the trade is worth nearly £5.5bn and increasingly UK hauliers are being targeted to smuggle refugees from a socially fractured central Europe. Sally Nash reports on drivers who, often unwittingly, find they have been drawn into the smugglers' web.
Imagine the scene: you're making your usual delivery and everything seems to be normal, including the traffic hold-ups, when you open the back of your trailer and out spring five men like a jack-in-the-box.
This sort of event is becoming more and more common, according to the Home Office, which is so worried by the growing trade in illegal immigration that it has just launched a new crime section to crack down on the "Mr Bigs" in organised gangs.
People trafficking
Increasingly criminal gangs are moving from drugs trafficking to people trafficking, it would appear. Illegal immigration is a big business operation estimated worldwide to be worth about $9 billion (£5.45bn) The number of UK incidents has risen from 61 in 1991/2 to 700 in 1996/97. Of all the illegal immigrants reaching the UK, at least 75% are doing so by road, says the National Criminal Intelligence Service. "It is far easier to get in by road because of the sheer volume of traffic going through the ports, whereas it is more difficult to hire a private plane for example," says a spokesman for NCIS.
Many international operators will agree that illegal immigration is a very real problem—and is on the increase. When CM looked at the issue in May last year (CM 22-28 May 1997) the subject was found to be almost taboo, with most transport firms insisting that they had no experience of it. But now the picture is very different.
In just one example, Dover-based EJ Bywater European Transport reports having nine stowaway incidents over the past few months—three when people were found on board trailers and another six where there was clear evidence of trailer damage.
Many of the stowaways seem to be from eastern Europe, which has suffered severe social unrest in the recent past. So is this just a coincidence?
"Social unrest is a contributory factor," says a spokesman for NCIS. "But the common denominator is that all these people are exceptionally vulnerable whether they are homeless or refugees". The Home Office points out that many illegals are still coming from traditional areas such as India and Pakistan.
As far as drivers are concerned, some are involved in the whole operation, says NCIS, although others are unknowingly transporting human cargo.
Shepton Mallet-based Framptons International was caught unawares in November when one of its drivers was delivering a load of paper to Butler & Tanner in Frome.
Romanians
As the driver opened his trailer two men jumped out and ran off. Police later caught four Romanians together in the town—two had managed to get off en route.
Since the beginning of 1996 Framptons has witnessed a number of incidents. "You hear all sorts of stories from drivers, including some about people riding on axles but I don't know how true they are," says transport manager Richard Fry.
John Bywater, managing director of EJ Bywater, says the only way to discover if there are any illegal immigrants hidden is to break all the seals, search and then re-seal. At present the illegal immigrants are climbing on top of the tilt trailers, cutting a hole through the sheet which they are then sewing by hand. But he understands that companies with highvalue loads would not be very happy about accepting loads where the seals are broken. Just last month five Albanians were caught after stowing away on a trailer loaded with tinned foodstuffs, driven by forces' catering driver Trevor Smith. He collected a sealed trailer at Purfleet, Essex, which had crossed the Channel on a ferry from Zeebrugge. Unknown to him it contained a human rgo.
One police officer reckons that on average deliberately smuggling illegal immigrants carries shorter sentences than drug-running. But the Home Office points out the tough penalties that lie in wait for hauliers convicted of smuggling. And although the going rate for travelling from India or even eastern Europe is between £2,000 and £10,000, the truck driver is likely to see a only fraction of that.
Mike O'Brien MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, responsible for Immigration, sounds a warning to any driver, or company, taking on the role of "mule" willingly.
"It may well be that some lorry drivers who do facilitate illegal entry may end up having to spend a considerable time behind bars. If lorry drivers do get involved in this business then they do deserve to go behind bars," he warns.
THE GOVERNMENT VIEW
Sally Nash spoke to Mike O'Brien, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, responslble for Immigration and Nationality, Community Relations and the Passport 0‘.
Is the rise in illegal immigration a result of the Asylum and Immigration Act introduced in 1996 by the previous Government?
A Whenever you tighten up on some of the controls, those who are seeking to enter may well use illegal means if it becomes more difficult to get access by merely claiming political asylum by applying in the normal way.
QWhere ore most of them coming from?
AWe're getting a fair number from the former eastern blot—Poles, Romanians and soon. We're also getting people from traditional areas, where we've had people in the past—like India and Pakistan We also have people from South America now because transport is much easier. They come from a variety of countries QFlow do immigrants get to the UK by truck?
AThey come here in various different ways: first of all they sometimes come without the knowledge of the lorry driver—they just get on the bock on the other side of the Channel—on the boat, at ports, service stations—all sorts of places. Second they come in anon opportunist basis—they say 'look give you this and you can get me across'; the other way 15 through big organised conspiracies.
QAre vehicles converted to hide legal immigrants?
APeople try to smuggle people in all sorts of different ways—false bottoms, false backs, fairies all over the pc.e The methods used are increasingly sophisticated by the people coming in illegally, particularly the organised criminals.
What sort of penalties can drivers face if they ore caught knowingly transport‘2( ing illegal immigrants?
Alt seems to work out at four, five or six years—these are the sorts of figures these drivers are running the risk of getting The danger of course is that someone who might do an opportunist trip across might later think that he could make more money out of it and get involved with the big criminal conspiracy gangs. And once they get involved with those, these people are very heavy criminals who are also involved in drug trafficking and prostitution.
QIs there any advice you can give to reputable lorry drivers? A We would ask all lorry drivers
coming to the UK to make sure that before they cross the Channel they do check their lorries They can check the seal to make sure it hasn't been damaged And I hope employers would worn their drivers that they are putting not only themselves at risk but also the reputation of their company if they get involved. It may
seem easy to do when ifs
initially put to them, but
with he use of dogs
arid various other methods and the increasing use of intelligence we are picking up on a fair number of them and will continue to do so.
HUMAN SMUGGLING: PAYING THE PRICE
• A German lorry driver, caught trying to smuggle 15 illegal immigrants through Dover, was jailed for three-and-a-half years, Harald Chleboracl was stopped by customs officers in July 1997 at the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz lorry. He told them the vehicle was empty and that he was going to London to pick up a load of furniture. But he was waved into the inspection bay where the 15 Asians were found sitting in the back. The prosecution said: "Chleborad was set up as a courier and the man who took all the risks' ■■ On 10 September 1997 a detection dog was targeted at a freight vehide driven by Mark Anthony Driscoll—a British lorry driver. As a result 11 illegals were apprehended. Driscoll was arrested and on 6 November received four and a half years imprisonment and was fined £11,000.
• A Belgian driver was jailed for two-and-a-half years in November 1997 after a court heard how nine Sri Lankans were found perched on the top of his chipboard load. Alexandre Bnmot admitted he had brought the illegal immigrants into Britain through Dover and that he had been paid around £4,000 to do so. The prosecution told CanterburyCrown Court that Brunot admitted knowing they were there, saying he hod been approached just outside Calais as he was getting fuel.