Police find 19 migrants hidden in truck, destined for England

By Janene Pieters on December 7, 2015 - 10:23
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Royal Military Police (Photo: Koninklijke Marechaussee/Facebook). (Royal Military Police (Photo: Koninklijke Marechaussee/Facebook))

The Koninklijke Marechaussee, a police force working as part of the military, discovered a total of 19 undocumented migrants hiding on a ferry set to depart from Hoek van Holland to Harwich in England on Saturday.

The Marechaussee investigated a truck parked on the ferry after receiving a tip from the ferry operators. A sniffer dog trained to detect human scent found something in the truck. Inside the Marechaussee discovered 17 stowaways - 16 Iraqi men between the ages of 15 and 32 years and a 25 year old Syrian woman. The 40 year old Polish driver of the truck was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking. He is in custody for questioning.

Later on Saturday the Marechaussee also caught two Syrian men, aged 17 and 20, trying to climb into a truck in the harbor area. Both men were arrested.

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