TWO men were arrested after nine suspected illegal immigrants were found hidden among rubble-filled boxes in a van stopped by officers from the Essex Police Port Unit and UK Border Agency at Harwich International Port today.

TWO men were arrested after nine suspected illegal immigrants were found hidden among rubble-filled boxes in a van stopped by officers from the Essex Police Port Unit and UK Border Agency at Harwich International Port today.

Officers searched the van at about 7am, shortly after it arrived at Harwich on a ferry from Holland. Nine people, all Indian, were found among boxes in the back of the van.

The driver and front seat passenger, two men aged 67 and 17, and both from East Ham, east London, were both arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration.

They are currently being interviewed by officers at Clacton police station.

The nine people discovered in the back of the van are currently being questioned by the UK Border Agency at Harwich.

Any adults found to be in the UK illegally will be removed from the country as soon as possible. Anyone under the age of 18 will be taken into local authority care.

Jim Jarvie, Deputy Regional Director Central Region of the UK Border Agency, said: “We are working closely with the police and other enforcement agencies to ensure there is no hiding place for those who try to cheat their way across the border.

“We will be ready to detain them wherever they are found.”