NO HIDING PLACE; How pounds 2m X-ray machines smash migrant smugglers

GIANT X-ray machines have been called into action in the battle against smugglers.

The 16 mobile units cost pounds 2million each, can scan lorries and their trailers in just 90 seconds...and these pictures show what they can reveal.

Their main task is to catch tobacco smugglers, but they are also being used to uncover guns, drugs and illegal immigrants.

Last night senior Customs officer Paul Collins said: "These scanners represent a significant development in our battle against smuggling."

The high-tech crackdown follows the death of 58 Chinese immigrants trapped in a lorry at Dover last June. It represents an acceptance that the traditional manual searches of lorries are hopelessly flawed.

At present, just one per cent of lorries are fully checked for stowaways because the process is so time-consuming. Even so, 16,000 people were caught illegally entering Britain last year.

The new X-ray machines are mounted on a boom which passes over the length of the lorry, taking images of what is inside. Each can deal with 300 vehicles a day.

The results are then fed into a computer which converts the X- rays into colour images, and any warning is flashed to the Immigration Department which then conducts a manual search.

Six mobile units are already in use at Dover and Felixstowe, where the asylum-seekers problem is severe. Another 10 will be in operation by 2003 to be based at Harwich, Cardiff and Portsmouth.

Four of the initial batch have been made in Germany and two by an American firm. Nick Hughes, of Field Emission Ltd, the agent for the German system, said: "The capability of the mobile to be set up anywhere at any time will make it harder for smugglers to pick a 'soft' port.

"Before a ship docks with lorries and trailers aboard, Customs and Excise do a risk assessment.

"At the moment they can only look at high-risk categories, but this equipment will enable them to broaden their sights."

Last night Shadow Home Secretary Ann Widdecombe welcomed the new machines as "a long overdue move". Gwyn Prosser, Labour MP for Dover, added: "Customs officers are delighted they now have the tools to get on with the job.

"For years their morale has been sinking, but these scanners are already having an effect."

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