Twenty-three-year-old arrested on M40 on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people

This article is more than 9 months old

This article is more than 9 months old

Police investigating the deaths of 39 people whose bodies were found in a refrigerated lorry container in Essex have arrested a man from Northern Ireland.

The man, 23, was held on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

Thames Valley police arrested him on the M40, near Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, in the early hours of Friday morning and he remained in custody, Essex police said.

The bodies of 39 Vietnamese nationals, including two 15-year-old boys, were found in the trailer in an industrial park in Grays in the early hours of 23 October, shortly after the lorry arrived on a ferry from Zeebrugge, in Belgium.

The lorry driver, Mo Robinson, 25, has appeared in court charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration, and money laundering and is expected to appear at the Old Bailey next week.

Extradition proceedings have been launched to bring Eamonn Harrison, 22, from Mayobridge in Newry, County Down, to the UK.

He appeared at Dublin’s central criminal court on Thursday after he was arrested on a European arrest warrant in respect of 39 counts of manslaughter, one count of a human trafficking offence and one count of assisting unlawful immigration.

Detectives have also urged Ronan Hughes, 40, and his brother Christopher, 34, from Armagh, Northern Ireland, to hand themselves in. They are wanted on suspicion of manslaughter and human trafficking.