A young woman has been caught trying to smuggle a teenage African migrant hidden in her suitcase into Spanish territory.
Authorities stopped the 22-year-old woman last week at a border crossing into Ceuta, one of two Spanish enclaves in North Africa, from neighboring Morocco.
A 19-year-old migrant from Gabon was found concealed inside. The man was immediately offered medical attention due to the lack of oxygen inside the compact travel bag, Spain’s Civil Guard said in a statement.
Border control had become suspicious of the woman after they noticed she was carrying her luggage on top of a trolley, authorities added.
Spanish officials said the woman showed an “evasive attitude while going through the established controls and nervousness” while speaking to agents.
Ceuta, along with the province of Melilla to the east, are Europe’s only land borders in Africa. Both enclaves have long been popular transit points for hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants trying to cross the sea at the narrow point south of Spain.