Man arrested in connection with migrants found in Rosslare trailer released

The lorry carrying the container was met by gardaí at Rosslare Eurosport in Co Wexford. File Picture: PA

A man who was arrested in connection with the alleged human trafficking of 14 undocumented migrants to Rosslare Europort following a tip-off to gardaí has been released without charge.

The man, who is in his 30s and is believed to be from Eastern Europe, was arrested on Wednesday when he returned to the port after a brief period abroad.

A group of 12 adults and two children were found in a contained refrigerator which arrived into Rosslare onboard a ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium on January 8. Local gardaí had been alerted by UK emergency services.

The migrants had made a hole in the container and rang for help at sea, fearing they were running out of oxygen. They managed to make contact with the UK emergency services.

On Wednesday, gardaí said they arrested one man in connection with the incident.

He was held at a garda station in the southeast of the country before being released without charge on Thursday, January 18.

A file will now be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Gardaí say investigations are ongoing.

Tip-Off

A source said: “Gardaí received a tip-off a person of interest would be arriving into the port, and he was arrested there and then.”

After they were discovered at Rosslare Port, the 12 adults and two children were medically examined and later interviewed using interpreters.

The group included 10 Kurdish people from Iran and Iraq, including two girls aged six and four years, one person from Turkey, and three from Vietnam.

They were taken to a centre for asylum seekers in Dublin, however, eight of them left the centre the next day and have not been located.

“The migrants believed they were going to the UK. They walked out of the building after asking for a phone charger and making calls.
They told others they were afraid of being deported. They arrived in Scotland the next day, they are not expected to return,” the source told the Irish Examiner.

It is understood that the investigation being carried out by gardaí will include DNA swabs, forensic testing and a re-tracing of the truck and the route it took from Belgium to Ireland.