Two Iraqi men were discovered hiding under the trailer of a truck in the port of Helsinki on 30 October, Finland's Border Guard announced in a press release on Tuesday.

A patrol dog found the two men under the trailer while border guards were conducting a routine search of incoming traffic at the port. The truck had arrived in Finland by ship from Tallinn.

The men were found to be in good condition, the Border Guard's Director of Investigations, Juho Sillanpää, told Yle.

"They were a little cold because they had been out at sea and it happened to be quite a rough day [at sea]," Sillanpää said.

The press release described the men's hiding place as being potentially "life-threatening", especially if the truck had accelerated to full speed.

The men did not have any documents entitling them to enter the EU, with the pair suspected of entering the Schengen area from Belarus.

The case is being investigated as an arrangement of illegal immigration, as people living in Finland are suspected of taking part in organising the men's passage.

"We are beginning to get a pretty clear picture of the men's route. They weren't in their hiding place in very challenging conditions for a very long time," Sillanpää said, adding that the case is unprecedented in Finland as there are no previously-known similar incidents.

A preliminary investigation into the incident is ongoing.