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Syrian boy smuggled into Spain under car seat

Alex Dunham
Alex Dunham - [email protected]
Syrian boy smuggled into Spain under car seat
After ripping apart the modified car boot, Civil Guard police officers found a child who was sweating profusely and struggling to breathe due to the lack of ventilation.

Spanish police have arrested a man after he attempted to smuggle an 11-year-old Syrian boy into Spain by hiding him in a "subhuman" space under one of his car seats.

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Spanish Civil Guard police carried out the arrest at the border between the Moroccan city of Beni-Enzar and Melilla, one of Spain’s African enclaves.

The 40-year-old man, who was also travelling with his three-year-old son sitting in the backseat, was stopped by police who then proceeded to search his vehicle.

One of the officers found a hole in the car boot, and after closer inspection, came across what felt like a human leg.

After ripping apart the modified car boot - a common procedure among human trafficking mafias at the Spanish border – Civil Guard police officers found a child who was sweating profusely and struggling to breathe due to the lack of ventilation.

It’s the first time Spanish police have prevented a minor who isn’t of sub-Saharan origin from being smuggled into Spain.

According to official sources, people can pay as much as €6,000 ($8,200) to be smuggled into Spain inside a car.

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