Police have searched two addresses in Northern
Ireland as officers continue to question a Co Armagh man over the discovery of 39 people dead in a refrigerated lorry trailer.
The searches in Co Armagh on Wednesday night are believed to be linked to the arrest of the driver, named in reports as 25-year-old Mo Robinson, from Portadown.
He remains in custody for questioning by Essex Police on suspicion of murder. Robinson had posted images on social media of the bright red cab, proudly calling it “the Polar Express.”Councillor Paul Berry said the village of Laurelvale, where the Robinson family live, was in “complete shock”.
Berry, who has been in contact with Robinson’s father several times, said he learned of his son’s arrest through social media.
“He had said he had been getting messages via people on social media on what was happening and at that stage it was not confirmed to him or his family that his son had been arrested,” said the independent representative.
“In the local area the feeling is one of complete shock and hope this is not a true story in terms of his involvement.”
Berry, who knows the father well, said the family were “very well respected” in the area.
“The local community is hoping that he (Mo Robinson) has been caught up innocently in this matter but that’s in the hands of Essex Police, and we will leave it in their professional hands to try to catch the perpetrators of this.”
He said the family had been left upset by the “unwelcome spotlight” the incident had shone on them.
“It was very distressing for the family as they just felt they were captive in their own home,” he said.Detectives have said the
trailer containing the victims arrived at Purfleet from Zeebrugge in
Belgium at around 12.30am on Wednesday and the front section to which it was attached, known as the tractor, came from Northern Ireland.
The lorry and trailer left the port at Purfleet shortly after 1.05am and officers were called around 30 minutes later after ambulance staff made the grim discovery at Waterglade Industrial Park in Eastern Avenue in nearby Grays.
Eric Van Duyse, a spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office, said that
Brussels had started an investigation into the incident.
He added: “We have no idea at the moment how long the lorry spent in Belgium, it could be hours or days, we just don’t know.”The incident follows warnings from the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Border Force of the increased risk of people-smuggling via Belgium.
An NCA assessment report on serious and organised crime last year said there was a “greater focus” on rising smuggler numbers in Belgium after the closure of the Dunkirk migrant camp in 2017.BREAK: Statement from Federal Public Prosecutor’s office in Belgium on Essex Lorry: “the container in question arrived at Zeebrugge on 22 October at 02.49 p.m. & left the port the same day during the afternoon...It is not yet clear when the victims were placed in the container” pic.twitter.com/JDptQSrAUI— Sophia McBride (@sophiacmcbride) October 24, 2019A Border Force assessment in 2016 highlighted Zeebrugge as being among “key ports of embarkation for clandestine arrivals”.
Speaking on Wednesday afternoon, Deputy Chief Constable Pippa Mills said the lorry and the container were being moved to nearby Tilbury Docks so the bodies can be recovered while preserving the dignity of the victims.
“We are yet to identify them and must manage this sensitively with their families,” she added.
The prime minister said the perpetrators of the crime “should be hunted down”, while local MP Jackie Doyle-Price said the people smugglers responsible must be caught.
Police have said tracking route used “will be a key line of inquiry”.
The Bulgarian ministry of foreign affairs said the truck was registered in Varna in Bulgaria “under the name of a company owned by an
Irish citizen”.
Police originally thought the lorry had travelled to the
UK through Holyhead in north Wales on October 19 but later revealed that the trailer had come directly from the Continent.
A freight ferry service runs from Zeebrugge to Purfleet.
Security checks for people smuggling are believed to be less stringent at both ports than at Calais and Dover.
The discovery comes as the NCA said the number of migrants being smuggled into the UK in containers and lorries has risen in the last year.
The bodies of 58 Chinese people were found in a container at Dover, Kent, in 2000.Related... Police Attempt To Identify 39 People Found Dead In Back Of Lorry In Essex