Two arrested in UK after horseboxes 'used for people-smuggling'

Men allegedly hid migrants and drugs in converted vehicles

Britain’s National Crime Agency arrested a 28-year-old man suspected of people smuggling in Oswestry, Shropshire. NCA

Two men have been arrested in Britain on suspicion of people-smuggling using converted horseboxes.

The pair, aged 50 and 28, were held during separate raids before being released after questioning, said the UK’s National Crime Agency.

The agency believes special compartments were built inside horseboxes to hide people and drugs to bring into the UK. The group is also suspected of using lorries.

The older man was arrested in Gravesend, south-east England, on Tuesday while the second man was held on Wednesday in Oswestry, Shropshire, close to the border with Wales.

Lydia Bloomfield, of the NCA, said: “Our investigation is focused on an organised crime group that we suspect has been smuggling both people and drugs into the UK by using concealments in horseboxes and heavy goods vehicles.

“Tackling people smuggling remains a priority for the NCA, and we are currently leading more than 60 investigations into organised immigration crime. These investigations involve some of the highest harm, highest threat crime groups.”

Criminals have previously used horseboxes to smuggle drugs into the UK, with Dutchman Marinus Van Gerwen jailed for 17 years in 2018.

Officers at Dover docks on the UK’s south-east coast found 51 blocks of cocaine hidden inside the wall of the horsebox. They had an estimated street value of nearly £4 million ($4.99m). Van Gerwen was also carrying two horses as a cover for the smuggling operation.