Twenty four Kuwaiti nationals have been caught by the UK Border Agency at the Port of Harwich attempting to sneak into the country in the back of a lorry.
The stowaways, 23 men and one 17-year-old boy, were caught in the early hours of the morning when they arrived on a ferry from the Hook of Holland.
Brian Hill, UK Border Agency assistant director at Harwich, said:“When officers opened the doors of the trailer they found the stowaways hiding inside in amongst the mixed load of goods.
“This is the biggest single detection of clandestines at Harwich that I can recall.
“As well as carrying out visual searches of freight and vehicles, our officers use carbon dioxide probes, heartbeat detectors and sniffer dogs to detect the presence of people hiding in lorries.
“The UK Border Agency works hard to combat illegal immigration and we will take action to remove anyone found to have no legal right to be in the country.”
The driver of the vehicle has been arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration and is currently being questioned by the UK Border Agency.
The 23 men are due to be transferred to Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre for their cases to be dealt with. The 17-year-old will be passed into the care of Essex Social Services.
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