Vega Baja truckers held two days by Polish police

TWO truck drivers from Almoradi were detained by men in police uniforms in Poland for two days until they paid a fine. They were forced to stay in their truck that was parked in a wasteland and guarded by dogs.

During this time the transport company who owns the truck tried to make arrangements with the police themselves and through the embassy.

What is unusual is that the company was not allowed to pay the fine via a bank transfer; instead they had to send €1,750 in cash and only received a handwritten sheet as a receipt.

“As we were leaving we saw officers handing out money and laughing at us,” said one of the truckers.

The company is considering complaining to the authorities in the hope that “this kind of abuse does not happen again in a country that joined the EU in 2004”.

Police stopped the truckers at a control point and asked them for certain paperwork and recorded the load and truck details.

After more than 30 minute wait they were told they must pay a €1,300 fine due to an error in the tachograph, which is a device fitted to a vehicle that automatically records its speed and distance. The truck drivers explained that the timing error had been recorded more than 20 days before during a time that they had not been in charge of the truck.

Officers took away their driver’s licenses and insisted they sign a series of documents. Since the truck drivers do not understand Polish they initially refused to sign. They were apparently told that if they signed the paperwork they could continue on their way, but instead they were taken to what looked like a scrap yard where a crane was used to immobilise the truck.

They could only leave the truck during times when there was somebody present.