Melilla : A Moroccan national arrested for trying to smuggle a sub-Saharan migrant

The Spanish Civil Guard arrested on Friday, 8th December, a 65-year-old Moroccan national who was trying to smuggle a Sub-Saharan teenager in his car to Melilla, reports the Spanish daily newspaper, El Pais. Aged 12, the young man from Guinea-Conakry was stuffed inside a tiny space between the engine and the passenger seat. The arrest occurred during a checkpoint in the Beni-Ensar border crossing.

Once the vehicle, a BMW X5, arrived in the crossing border, the police asked the driver to show them his ID to conduct a check, said a spokesman of the Melilla police on Saturday. They then asked him to open the trunk, where they found nothing suspicious.

Using a special machine, the Civil Guard detected the migrant’s heartbeat. They then conducted an exhaustive search of the interior of the vehicle. One of them discovered the young man inside the car’s dashboard, the spokesman added.

The concealed passenger had numbness symptoms and was breathing briskly. The police gave him first aid and managed to resuscitate him. The boy was then transferred to the Purísima Juvenile Center in Melilla. The Moroccan national, meanwhile was arrested by the police.