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German haulier 'unaware' of human cargo
Page 10
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THE DIRECTOR OF A German haulage firm whose trucks were found to be transporting 39 illegal imm[grants in Norfolk says he was unaware of the human cargo.
Wolfgang Detmers, of Munich-based Detmers-Transport, says he does not know how the Afghani men and children came to board two container lorries. However, he believes that it occurred at a motorway restaurant outside of Calajs.
The UK Border Agency has confirmed it will pursue civil penalty action against the two drivers and Detmers-Transport after the stowaways were discovered onboard the lorries in King's Lynn, Norfolk. The logistics company could face a fine of up to 278,000.
The lorries entered the UK through Dover port and were delivering construction materials to the paper business Palm Paper. MD Derek Harman says it phoned the police as soon as the firm became aware of the immigrants.
A spokesman for the UK Border Agency says the stowaways were arrested and six minors were placed into the care of social servces. He adds: "While the investigation is still ongoing, civil penalty action will be taken against the drivers and their firms."
However, Detmers says: "The explanation we have is that our trucks stopped at a motorway restaurant 40km before arriving at Calais." Detmers believes the stowaways might have entered the containers there.
He goes on to say that the containers were locked up when the vehicle stopped, and it arrived with locked containers."