The UK Border Agency is enforcing immigration controls more rigidly after the recent detach of 62 Afghani migrants found in a freight container in Pakistan. If a hidden illegal immigrant is found in a freight trailer or container, the owner or person responsible for the vehicle could be fined a maximum of £4000 per immigrant. Additional security measures will probably be necessary, as owner-drivers and drivers will have to be able to show that they have done everything possible to secure their loads; this may include measures such as sealing cuts or tears in curtain-sided trailers, fixing tamper-proof locks and getting evidence at the point of delivery that someone else checked the vehicle with the driver.
Operators involved in the freight and shipping industry will have to bear the cost of these extra security measures, but feel that it is unfair that the transport industry should be the main line of defence against illegal immimigration.