Ivory Coast boy smuggled to Spain inside suitcase

An eight-year-old boy has been smuggled into Spain from Morocco inside a suitcase, Spanish police say.

The boy was found inside the case being carried by a 19-year-old woman into Ceuta, a Spanish enclave next to Morocco, on Thursday.

When police opened the case, they found the boy in a "terrible state", a spokesman for the Guardia Civil told AFP.

The boy, from Ivory Coast, is now in the care of authorities in Ceuta.

The boy was found in terrible state. Photo : Reuters.

The Spanish newspaper El Pais reported (in Spanish) that said the 19-year-old is not related to the boy, and was probably paid by his father to carry the suitcase.

The boy's father lives in the Canary Islands and had hoped to be reunited with his son, El Pais said.