Stowaway driver to pay back illegal profits
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A LORRY DRIVER caught with illegal immigrants hidden in his refrigerated trailer in freezing conditions has been forced to pay back the money he made.
Redas Rauckis is serving a four-year sentence for trans porting 16 Albanian nationals in -23ºC conditions. But after a hearing at Maidstone Crown Court, the Lithuanian driver has paid back £1,163 he made illegally instead of facing a further 30 days’ imprisonment.
A trial last year heard how his truck was stopped at the freight control at Coquelles and examined. None of the stowaways were injured but they were at risk of hypothermia.
At the time, Detective Inspector Eddie Fox of the Seri ous and Organised Crime Unit in Kent, said: “The doors could not be opened from the inside, so the Albanians travelling inside were trapped in a freezer and were in extreme danger.” Detective Inspector Mark Fairhurst says: “The Proceeds of Crime Act allows us to recover profits.”