Two arrests in Spain's Ceuta after migrants found hidden in suitcase and car dashboard

Police in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta have arrested two people on suspicion of people smuggling after migrants were discovered in a suitcase and in a car dashboard. Spain's Guardia Civil detained a 22-year-old Moroccan woman after an audacious attempt to smuggle a man in a suitcase was discovered on 30 December.

It was reported by Spanish newspaper El Pais on 2 January that immigration officers at the Tarajal border spotted a woman acting nervously at the crossing. They ordered the woman to open her luggage, where the man was discovered.

The man is believed to be a 19-year-old from Gabon, who was later treated by medical staff. The woman apprehended, who was only identified by the initials H. E. L., is suspected of immigration-related charges.

In a separate recent attempt a car was stopped and one person found hiding in the dashboard and another under a back seat. The BBC reported that a man and a woman were discovered in the car and needed first aid as they were struggling to breathe.

Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa which borders Morocco, is the European Union's only land border with Africa and sees thousands of attempted illegal crossings each year, mainly by sub-Saharan Africans.

On New Years' Day, a mass attempt was made by more than 1,000 migrants to storm the 6m (20ft) border fence separating the two countries.

Although none managed to get through, 50 Moroccan and five Spanish border guards were injured protecting the gates in both Ceuta and neighbouring Melilla.

All those that tried to climb the border wall were sent back to Morocco apart from two, authorities said, who were allowed to be taken to hospital in Ceuta.

Officials added that one guard lost an eye in the assault and it was reported that some of the migrants trying to cross the border illegally were carrying metal bars and rocks. According to the Associated Press (AP), more than 400 migrants attempted to access the fence at Ceuta last month.

In 2015 an eight-year-old boy was found hiding inside a suitcase, carried by a woman entering Ceuta from Morocco.