Illegal immigrants found in Ferrero Rocher lorry

Five illegal immigrants were found in a lorry carrying Ferrero Rocher chocolates that was heading to the Black Country, it was revealed today.

A sniffer dog alerted immigration officials to the men, who were hidden among 2,500 boxes of chocolates destined for a firm in Wolverhampton.

Three-year-old Benji picked up the scent of the stowaways while working alongside staff from the UK Border Agency in Calais. The Romanian-registered lorry was heading for an address in the Lanesfield area of the city.

The occupants, originally from Iran and Iraq, have now been handed over to the French authorities for questioning. The driver of the lorry and the haulier may now be liable for a fine.

Carole Upshall, director of Border Force South and Europe, said: "We base UK Border Agency officers in Calais so we can stop illegal immigrants like these men before they even get to the UK.

"Increasingly sophisticated attempts are being made to try to smuggle people into the UK so, as well as dogs like Benji, our officers use heartbeat detectors and carbon dioxide probes to find people hiding in lorries."

Last month it was revealed that more than 350 illegal workers and immigrants were removed from the West Midlands between April and July this year.

The figures were released by the agency to coincide with a continuing national summer campaign that has seen them crackdown on illegal working, sham marriages and organised immigration crime.

The region has also seen more than 100 separate visits to businesses in the region

In 2007 workers at Lister Road depot, in Dudley, were stunned when they opened a delivery of green wheelie bins from France to discover a pair of thirsty Afghan stowaways living inside. The men were believed to have been hiding in the bins on a lorry for at least two days.

By Victoria Nash