EIGHTEEN Afghan nationals - including seven children - were allegedly discovered in the back of two lorries travelling through Poole Port just days after the conclusion of a police operation.

It is alleged that the two groups were discovered in the back of a vehicles which had ‘purpose-built hides’ inside on Thursday, October 6.

The reported discovery was made in the same week that a huge police crackdown at the port concluded.

A number of extra officers took part in Operation Vedika, a joint initiative between Dorset Police, the National Crime Agency and Border Force.

The operation took place between Monday, September 26 and Monday, October 3.

Two men have now appeared before magistrates.

Nikolay Dimitrov, 24, of Ruse in Bulgaria, and Ion Gita, 32, of Kenton Road in Harrow, are charged with facilitating illegal immigration into the UK.

The defendants, who have not entered a plea, were remanded into custody and will next appear at Bournemouth Crown Court for a preliminary hearing on November 10.

A Home Office spokesman said: “On October 6, Border Force officers at Poole detected 18 people in two separate vehicles attempting to enter the UK illegally.

“The group, who all presented themselves as being from Afghanistan, was made up of five families including seven minors. They have been moved into temporary accommodation while their cases are progressed in line with the immigration rules.”

Police say the aim of the initiative was to “deter, disrupt and detect exploitation of the common travel area, general maritime and commercial maritime arena by those involved in criminality” after an “increase in concern about the perceived vulnerability” of Dorset’s ports.

In total, 44 officers and staff were deployed to Poole Port for the week, meeting every commercial maritime vessel that came in.

On Saturday, October 1, two illegal immigrants were caught trying to enter the UK via the port.

The Albanians - described as “economic migrants” by Dorset Police Assistant Chief Constable David Lewis, who was the strategic commander of the operation - were found aboard a freight cargo vessel.

The previous month, six people - including two children - were detained at Poole Port having hidden in unattended freight from Bilbao.

In September, Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill said it was “clear” that Home Office officials have done “very little to increase protection to our coastal borders”.

“Our port of Poole is becoming a perfect storm,” he said.

“With the current terrorist threat, small port security should not be an afterthought.”

Mr Underhill called for the government to commit to improving existing security measures.

“Unless we act now, the effects of having poor or insufficient security on our coastal borders could be disastrous,” he added.

“We live in dangerous times and we are only as strong as our weakest link. It is quite clear that small ports are the weakest link.”