Eighteen workers were arrested on suspicion of immigration offences during a raid at a DPD delivery depot in Wolverhampton. The arrests took place as part of a crackdown on illegal working in the parcel delivery sector.
Raid at Dudley Port depot
Officers arrived at the company's Dudley Port site last Tuesday (September 29). Social media footage showed uniformed workers sitting beside their vans as Home Office officials patrolled around them.
Following the raid, the business was handed a Civil Penalty Referral Notice, meaning further investigations will take place to establish whether it has any liability. Under the rules, businesses can face fines if they employed illegal workers and failed to carry out the required right-to-work checks.
Fines and penalties
Fines can reach £45,000 per worker for a first breach and rise to £60,000 for repeat offending. In the most serious cases, businesses can also face prosecution.
In a statement, the Home Office said: "We will not stand for illegal working. Since coming into office, immigration enforcement activity has risen to its highest level on record under this government, with illegal working arrests up by 122 per cent. We have strengthened right to work requirements to cover the parcel delivery sector, helping to ensure appropriate checks are carried out. Businesses failing to meet their obligations may face fines of up to £60,000 per illegal worker and, in the most serious cases, criminal prosecution."
DPD denies penalty notice
DPD denied that it was served a penalty notice and insisted it has robust checks in place. A spokesperson said: "At DPD we take our legal obligations extremely seriously and we have right to work checks in place for all of our people. In addition, we have carried out a review of these procedures ahead of the new legislation that came into force recently, and we will continue to support and work closely with the Home Office on this issue. We can also confirm DPD has not been served with a Penalty Notice."
The latest crackdown comes after nine people were arrested at two DPD depots in the south of England this summer. Immigration Enforcement officers arrived at sites in Basingstoke, Hampshire, and Newbury, Berkshire, on June 11, where right-to-work checks were carried out on more than 100 people across the two sites. Seven Indian nationals, one Ghanaian national and one Pakistani national were arrested on suspicion of immigration offences. All nine were placed on immigration bail with conditions while further inquiries took place.
