GRAYS, England (Reuters) – Police were given extra time on Thursday to question a driver arrested on suspicion of murder after 39 people, believed to be Chinese nationals, were found dead in a refrigerated truck near London, in an investigation focused on human trafficking.
Officers searched three properties in the County Armagh area of Northern Ireland. The driver has not been formally identified but a source familiar with the investigation said he was Mo Robinson from the Portadown area of the British province.
Paramedics and police found the bodies of 31 men and eight women on Wednesday in a truck container on an industrial estate at Grays in Essex, about 20 miles (32 km) east of London.
For years, illegal immigrants have attempted to reach Britain stowed away in trucks, often from the European mainland. In the biggest tragedy, 58 Chinese were found dead in a tomato truck in 2000 at the port of Dover.
“We read with heavy heart the reports about the death of 39 people in Essex,” the Chinese Embassy said in a statement, adding further clarification was being sought with police.
Essex police said their priority was ensuring dignity for the victims during their inquiry.
“Each of the 39 people must undergo a full coroner’s process to establish a cause of death before we move on to attempting to identify each individual within the trailer,” police said in a statement, saying that would be a time-consuming operation.
Police were given permission from local magistrates to detain the 25-year-old driver for an additional 24 hours on Thursday.
The trailer part of the truck arrived at Purfleet docks in Essex, southern England, from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge – as did the vehicle involved in 2000.
Its red cab unit, which had “Ireland” emblazoned on the windscreen along with the message “The Ultimate Dream, entered Britain via Holyhead in north Wales, having started its journey in Dublin, police said.
SECURE SITE
The discovery of the bodies was made at 1.40 a.m. just over an hour after the container arrived in Purfleet, not far from the industrial estate in Grays.
The vehicle has been moved to a secure site at nearby Tilbury Docks where forensic work can take place. Officials have set up a book of condolence at civic offices in Grays.
The National Crime Agency, which targets serious and organized crime, said it was helping the investigation and working urgently to identify any gangs involved.
Shaun Sawyer, national spokesman for British police on human trafficking, said thousands of people were seeking to come to the United Kingdom illegally. While they were able to rescue many of those smuggled in, Britain was perceived by organized crime as a potentially easy target for traffickers.
“You can’t turn the United Kingdom into a fortress. We have to accept that we have permeable borders,” he told BBC radio.
The head of the Road Haulage Association said traffickers were “upping their game” and closer cooperation with European nations was needed, albeit that may be complicated by Britain’s potential exit from the European Union.
“There is simply not enough being done in terms of security, in terms of the protection of vehicles across Europe,” Richard Burnett told BBC TV.
Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Janet Lawrence
mi5 and mi6 have smuggled a lot more than Chinese and a lot more into other countries.
The Republic of Ireland and the northern occupied Ireland has been flooded by Chinese and Pakistani/ME people for decades.
Between 1999 and 2014 I had visited 9 times and I haunted a lot of the same places in the republic.
Every year it became more brown and yellow and you could see the demise of their culture.
A lot of the Irish were vocal about getting rid of them but as “their” government started cracking down with “hate” speech laws and special protections for the invaders, the indigenous people crawled back into the dark silently.
Dublin is a cesspool of “diversity” and after having a look at the book of Kells one day, I stepped out of Trinity college and a lgbqtiaawxyz parade destroyed my historical experience.
The market place on new year’s day was like visiting Marrakech.
My point is I’ve seen it in other countries to far greater lengths but they lack the proper tools for the job.
WE have the tools and the numbers and currently the information that it IS being done intentionally. The flow of information for these folks then did not travel at the speed of light.
It does now and the future victims as well as the previous victims are mad as hell and aren’t gonna take it anymore.
WE ain’t crawling back into the shadows. WE will NOT sit down and WE will NOT shut the F up. WE are gonna stomp their F’g commie heads into the F’g dirt and deep into hell where they belong!
I am NOT going to see my people walk down THAT road and if they sheepishly do, I know they are NOT MY people and F them.
Good morning and DTTNWO
And good morning to you Martist.
Good morning, Katie. 🙂 “The best paart of waking up, is freedom in your cup!”