8-Year-Old Boy Found In Suitcase Entering Spain

An 8-year-old boy was found inside a suitcase carried by a woman trying to cross the border into Spain, UPI News reported today. The boy was found in the luggage while the woman carrying it attempted to pass through security at the border between Spain and Morocco.

“The Civil Guard said the boy was discovered Thursday in the luggage of a Moroccan woman at the Tarajal border crossing after the tell-tale outline of the child showed up on an X-ray image,” UPI News reported, “The boy, who identified himself as Abou and said he was from the Ivory Coast, was taken into the custody of the Ceuta juvenile department, while the woman, identified as Fatima E.Y., was placed under arrest.”

Spanish authorities had arrested the boy’s father at the same border crossing about 90 minutes earlier. When shown a picture of Abou, he admitted to being the boy’s father. UPI News said the Civil Guard suspects the father paid the woman to smuggle the boy into Spain.

“Officials in the Spanish territory of Ceuta, in North Africa, made a startling discovery when they scanned the pink roller bag: A human silhouette,” the Washington Post reported, “When they opened the bag, police found a small boy curled up inside.”

The woman looked nervous while waiting in line at the border crossing, so authorities stopped and and put her luggage through the scanner. At that time they noticed what looked like a child inside the suitcase. After opening the suitcase, the 8-year-old Ivory Coast boy was found.

The boy was placed in custody of authorities in Spain and the woman who tried to smuggle the boy into the country was arrested. Each year thousands try to cross over from Morocco into Spain in search of a better life. Many try to get over a 23-foot fence that separates the two countries. This is very different than the U.S. and Mexico border, which is wide open at spots, and smuggling an 8-year-old boy in a suitcase isn’t necessary. At many points on the U.S. border, they can just walk right in at the right times when there are no border patrol watching.

“In a clear case of attempted illegal immigration, a sub-Saharan African boy, thought to be around eight-years-old, was found curled up and hiding in a suitcase at the border between Morocco and the North African Spanish territory of Ceuta. Images of the x-rays clearly show the boy hidden inside the case,” the Inquisitr reported.

[Photo of child inside suitcase from Business Insider.]