A man was dramatically pulled from underneath a lorry on the A13 in Barking, near the Beckton roundabout.
Officers pulled over the Dutch HGV on the busy dual carriageway at about midday yesterday.
A driver alerted the police after he followed the lorry through the Dartford tunnel and noticed the man clinging on to the underside of the moving vehicle.
The man was taken to an east London police station where he is currently being dealt with by the United Kingdom Border Agency.
A Met spokesman said: “One man was found to have been travelling on the outside of the vehicle. He was taken to an east London Police station where he is being dealt with by United Kingdom Border Agency.
“Checks have been made of the route the vehicle is known to have taken to ensure that additional persons had not fallen from the lorry.”
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