ARCHIVED - Hard Brexit fears provoke increase in stowaway damage to Murcia trucks in Calais

1.1 million euros lost in damaged goods alone so far this year as migrants try to reach the UK before Brexit

The regional transport companies federation of Murcia, Froet, suspects that Brexit may be one of the reasons for a significant increase this year in the amount of damage caused to lorries and their cargoes by stowaways attempting to enter the UK from Calais illegally.

The federation claims that at least 62 trucks from Murcia have been attacked by the “mafias” who break into them in order for immigrants to hide, some of them even breaking holes in the roof while the drivers remain unaware. The losses in 2019 so far amount to an estimated 1.1 million euros in terms of damage to merchandise and goods, without taking into account the cost of repairing damaged vehicles: in some cases the migrants have no option but to relieve themselves on cargoes of fruit and vegetables, resulting in the produce inevitably not being accepted on arrival at its destination.

In this context Froet are demanding “resounding measures” to end the “impunity” of the immigration mafias at the port of Calais and the southern end of Eurotunnel, warning that some drivers are now flatly refusing to undertake the journey from the Costa Cálida to Britain due to the risks involved. In addition, the general secretary of the federation, Manuel Pérez-Carro, explains that some migrants are infiltrating containers as far as 400 kilometres south of Calais in order to escape detection, and that the surge in incidents of this kind may be due to the possibility of a no-deal Brexit resulting in tighter border controls in the near future.

Image: Froet (uncredited)

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