Albanian woman who tried to sneak into UK... in van engine
WEDGED in tight, this Albanian woman was caught trying to sneak into Britain – by hiding in a van’s engine compartment.
Border Force officers were stunned to find her crouching between scalding hot parts emitting toxic fumes.
The heavily-laden Nissan van, heading to the Channel Tunnel, had been specially adapted to conceal its human cargo beneath the bonnet.
The engine had been lowered to deepen a void measuring just 3ft by 2ft 6ins where a spare tyre would normally lie.
A thin metal plate welded to the bottom of the vehicle was the only thing preventing the Albanian woman from tumbling onto the road.
Van driver Nicolae Chirvas has now been jailed for three years for trying to smuggle her into Britain. He admitted assisting unlawful immigration at Canterbury Crown Court last week.
The 31-year- old Moldovan, who lives in Enfield, North London, aroused suspicions when he kept changing his story after a routine stop by border staff on the French side of the Tunnel on February 1.
Initially he said he had been to Romania to visit his sister, before telling officers he had visited Germany. David Fairclough, of Immigration Enforcement, said: ‘Had the car been involved in any kind of collision the end result does not bear thinking about.’ The woman was later passed to French frontier police so her migration status could be checked.