Police were working with their counterparts on the continent to determine the truck's movements before it boarded the ferry, Pugash said. Its journey has so far been traced back to Rotterdam. Attempts by the ferry owners to trace the firm Van der Spek to the Dutch address and phone number listed on the accompanying documents revealed that no such firm existed there, and no such company is listed in the Dutch trade register. But the presence of tomatoes would suggest that the truck was loaded in the Rotterdam area, where the name Van der Spek is prevalent. Rotterdam-based refrigerated trucks often transit to Britain with loads of fresh produce, arousing no suspicion.
Tomatoes are one of their main products, grown under glass all year round.
Worst-Ever U.K. Immigrant Tragedy Individual asylum seekers have been known to die on their journey to Britain, often after jumping from a moving train to avoid detection, but police said they were stunned by the scale of their overnight discovery. The numbers speak for themselves. The 58 deaths are the largest ever for a U.K. smuggling incident. The British government has acted in recent months to crack down on increasing numbers of refugees. Last year, about 500 people per week were smuggled into Britain.