Gardaí and the PSNI were on Wednesday night carrying out investigations into the movements and background of a Northern Irish truck driver arrested in Britain after 39 people were found dead in the trailer his truck was pulling.
The man (25), from near Portadown in Co Armagh, was arrested on suspicion of murder after the bodies of the victims were discovered in his truck on an industrial site in Grays, Essex.
He was arrested on suspicion of murder and, while he was questioned and set to be detained overnight, he had not been charged with any criminal offence.
Essex Police initially said in a statement that the truck had come from Bulgaria and entered Britain via Holyhead on Saturday.
This statement raised serious concerns in Ireland, especially within the Garda and Revenue's Custom service, that the truck had come from continental Europe to Ireland and then moved on to Britain with the victims in the trailer.
However, Essex Police later clarified the movements of the truck and trailer, confirming that they had entered Britain separately.
“Originally, we reported that the lorry had travelled into the country through Holyhead on Saturday, October 19th,” Essex Police said in an updated statement issued on Wednesday afternoon.
“After further enquiries, we now believe that the trailer travelled from Zeebrugge into Purfleet, and docked in the Thurrock area shortly after 12.30am this morning.
"The tractor unit of the lorry is believed to have originated in Northern Ireland. We believe the lorry and trailer left the port (of Purfleet) shortly after 1.05am."
Bulgarian-registered
In Ireland investigations were commenced by the Garda National Immigration Bureau and the Garda's Special Crime Operations. Those inquiries began amid concern the victims had perhaps been trafficked through Ireland and also through Dublin Port undetected, either alive or already deceased.
However, when checks were made in Essex it became clear the container with had not passed through Ireland.
Further checks by the Garda have also established the truck involved, but not the trailer, left Dublin Port on a ferry to Holyhead on Saturday. It then came back to Ireland later that day and then left Dublin Port again for Holyhead on Sunday.
The Garda and PSNI were continuing to carry out inquiries about the arrested man and the truck he was driving. The truck was registered in Bulgaria almost 2½ years ago but has worked out of Ireland since then.
It is registered in Bulgaria to a company owned by an Irish woman whose family has a long involvement in trucking. It is not unusual for hauliers to register trucks in countries where the owners, or the staff driving the vehicles, do not reside.
The criminal investigation in Essex will attempt to establish the level of knowledge, if any, that the Irish driver had about there being people in the trailer he was pulling.
