Morning commuters on the M40 near Bicester faced heavy delays on 11 December when Thames Valley Police stopped a refrigerated lorry and discovered 13 people hiding in the trailer. Officers arrested the Romanian driver on suspicion of facilitating illegal entry into the UK; the migrants—thought to be from Iraq and Vietnam—were taken for medical checks and later transferred to immigration officers for processing.
Police acted on a tip-off from a member of the public who heard banging from inside the vehicle at a motorway service area. Two lanes of the southbound carriageway were closed for three hours while officials conducted safety inspections, causing tailbacks of up to five miles.
![Thames Valley Police arrest lorry driver after 13 migrants found on M40]()
For companies or individuals seeking legitimate routes into the country, VisaHQ can help simplify the process. The firm’s UK portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) offers step-by-step guidance on visitor, work and transit visas, real-time application tracking, and compliance updates—support that can reduce the incentive for risky clandestine travel while helping organisations meet their legal obligations.
The incident comes amid a wider Home Office crackdown on clandestine entry points away from the English Channel. In November the department announced a £20 million expansion of mobile freight-screening units equipped with heartbeat detectors and CO₂ monitors. Data released last week show a 14 per cent year-on-year rise in “lorry drop” detections across inland UK roads, suggesting traffickers are diversifying away from Kent ports in response to heightened checks at Dover.
From a corporate-compliance perspective, the event is a reminder that employers receiving just-in-time deliveries must ensure haulage suppliers meet the ‘Secure Operator’ standards set out in the Civil Penalty (Carrier Liability) regime. Fines can reach £10,000 per clandestine entrant if a haulier is judged not to have taken “adequate precautions”. Mobility and supply-chain teams may therefore wish to audit contractor security protocols—particularly ahead of the busy Christmas logistics window.
Police acted on a tip-off from a member of the public who heard banging from inside the vehicle at a motorway service area. Two lanes of the southbound carriageway were closed for three hours while officials conducted safety inspections, causing tailbacks of up to five miles.
For companies or individuals seeking legitimate routes into the country, VisaHQ can help simplify the process. The firm’s UK portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) offers step-by-step guidance on visitor, work and transit visas, real-time application tracking, and compliance updates—support that can reduce the incentive for risky clandestine travel while helping organisations meet their legal obligations.
The incident comes amid a wider Home Office crackdown on clandestine entry points away from the English Channel. In November the department announced a £20 million expansion of mobile freight-screening units equipped with heartbeat detectors and CO₂ monitors. Data released last week show a 14 per cent year-on-year rise in “lorry drop” detections across inland UK roads, suggesting traffickers are diversifying away from Kent ports in response to heightened checks at Dover.
From a corporate-compliance perspective, the event is a reminder that employers receiving just-in-time deliveries must ensure haulage suppliers meet the ‘Secure Operator’ standards set out in the Civil Penalty (Carrier Liability) regime. Fines can reach £10,000 per clandestine entrant if a haulier is judged not to have taken “adequate precautions”. Mobility and supply-chain teams may therefore wish to audit contractor security protocols—particularly ahead of the busy Christmas logistics window.
