39 slaughtered in a container

[Pontius Navigator]

Looks like a definite Bulgarian/Irish connection but the Chinese must have boarded in France or Belgium.

[G-CPTN]

Vietnamese families fear relatives among dead.

[Pontius Navigator]

Now 4 arrests, a couple in Warrington. In the news a suggestion they travelled via China and got documents there.

[Magnus]

I notice a Chinese gentleman being interviewed said "How, Why?" I thought, well at least that's one identified.

[OFSO]

That'll mean a few nail bars closing down on the Essex Rd.

(For those unfamiliar, every third shop is a nail bar run by Vietnamese).

[Capetonian]

Let's see now.

39 illegal immigrants can travel.across Europe in a refrigerated lorry, but I have to fill in a customs declaration to post a couple of bars of chocolate from Switzerland to Belgium.

[Rwy in Sight]

Let's see now.

39 illegal immigrants can travel.across Europe in a refrigerated lorry, but I have to fill in a customs declaration to post a couple of bars of chocolate from Switzerland to Belgium.

Belgians are afraid of competition. Try ship some lager from Germany to Belgium .

Seriously now: I doubt the problem is associated with free movement of law abiding citizen. Technically there is a border between Turkey and Greece (EU actually but you may not like that approach). Illegal immigrants cross the border by the dozen everyday. There is no border between Belgium and the Netherlands. Few people cross it illegally. So there is nothing wrong with the suppression of the Intra-Schengen borders. But that must come with serious control of the external borders. The performance of the EU in that field is pathetically low. And that needs to be improved yesterday. Use the Frontex to stop the immigrants not to welcome and assist them into arriving in the welfare paradise of the EU.

I like to move fast between an intra-Schengen flight and the train station and not wait hours because some pathetic inefficient officers and politicians can't stop immigrants from entering the EU. In our case those poor victims should have been stopped as long as they arrive illegally in the EU. Had this worked they would have been alive now.

[Ibbie]

The 39 were as good as dead as soon as the container was closed.

It is air tight sealed, so if the fridge unit is not switched on, no air enters or leaves and if the fridge unit is on, it will be pumping out chilled air, which will also be fatal if they are in there for a number of hours.

[Pontius Navigator]

The 39 were as good as dead as soon as the container was closed.

It is air tight sealed, so if the fridge unit is not switched on, no air enters or leaves and if the fridge unit is on, it will be pumping out chilled air, which will also be fatal if they are in there for a number of hours.

Anywhere between -1 and +7.

I wonder if they were the only cargo. Certainly suffocation rather than cold was probably the killer.

I wonder why they arrested the driver for murder but the couple in Warrington for manslaughter. Right at the end of the Telegraph report it is mentioned that they moved from a 'more modest' home two years ago, believed to have business interests, 'hairdressing salon and car valeting firm' and have a Range Rover and a Land Rover Discovery with personalised number plates.

Nothing strange there then.

OH, almost missed a white Chevrolet Corvette.

[Stoneboat]

... 'more modest' home two years ago, believed to have business interests, 'hairdressing salon and car valeting firm' and have a Range Rover and a Land Rover Discovery with personalised number plates.
Nothing strange there then.
OH, almost missed a white Chevrolet Corvette.

Hairdressing and car valeting pay well, obviously.

[Mrs Ex-Ascot]

Seems that this is a major people smuggling operation operating between Vietnam/China and Europe. And a lot of money is probably being made by all along the chain, the Irish being only one link I suspect. The latest from the DM; https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... itain.html

I wonder how many they have successfully smuggled into the UK in recent weeks let alone months/years, and how much money has been made out of these people.

[Pontius Navigator]

Mrs Ex-A, you may not know, but modern day slavery is rampant in UK and probably EU. There is now a project App for reporting car wash operations where you suspect slavery. It lists various tell tales and you can send to a central point.

All these businesses that deal in cash, massage parlours, nail bars, hairdressing, car valeting (posh name for car wash), fast food and taxies, all suspect and good cover for money laundering. OK, they pay their taxes but end up with clean money.

[ian16th]

I cannot help thinking that the method of carrying human cargo in sealed/refrigerated containers cannot have been in use for long, as we would have had many more fatalities.

If the bad guys were using the route, they must have been using a different method.

[Mrs Ex-Ascot]

From what I can gather the use of refrigerated containers is to foil the use of heat seeking cameras being used at ports to detect warm and alive people inside containers.

I guess the gamble (if they are aware that is to say) that these poor unfortunates take is whether they get out before freezing/asphyxiating to death. The question in this case to my mind, is, did the truck driver open the back to check paperwork, or more likely was he hoping to open the container in time to off load them? Was there a vehicle nearby that they were supposed to be transferred to? Lots of unanswered questions. I hope something positive gets done. Unfortunately I guess this is one outfit out of many. A speck in the sand.

[Pontius Navigator]

Ian, it might have been an unforeseen delay. Missed ferry, traffic congestion etc.

I imagine the police will be back tracking that container's movements as far back as they can. Apart from the GPS trail they will link to each tractor. CCTV will back up the GPS trail and so forth. Once they get a link there will probably be much they can uncover.

As they say, 'follow the money'. That hairdressing salon and car wash business will certainly be under a microscope. HMRC will be busy too.

[Mrs Ex-Ascot]

The latest from the DM; https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... urney.html

Looks more and more likely that this container got delayed and the driver opened it as soon as possible, but too late. The fact that he dialed 999 and fainted to my mind means that he knew what was in the container when he opened it and was horrified by what he saw. Unfortunately he didn't manage to open it in time to save any lives.

[Ibbie]

Another driver from Northern Ireland, driving a blue Scania tractor unit, has been arrested at Dublin Port this afternoon, after arriving on a ferry from France. This is in connection with this incident. He is due in court late this afternoon in Dublin.

Everyone arrested so far is of Irish origin, including the two people arrested in Warrington.

[ian16th]

If the 'pax' were dead when the container arrived in the UK, can the driver who was to collect them be guilty of manslaughter?

[4mastacker]

.................Unfortunately he didn't manage to open it in time to save any lives.

On the other hand, if he had opened the trailer in time, the general public wouldn't have been any the wiser about the scale of this illegal and inhuman activity. As has happened, the driver may have unintentionally played a key part in curtailing the activities of the gangs involved and their other dubious activities.

[Pontius Navigator]

If the 'pax' were dead when the container arrived in the UK, can the driver who was to collect them be guilty of manslaughter?

He has just been charged with manslaughter, immigration, money laundering and trafficking. I think he can be guilty as part of the system.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-50196265