EIGHT YEAR OLD SMUGGLED TO SPAIN BY WOMAN

 An Ivorian eight-year old boy hidden in a suitcase that was smuggled across the border into Spanish territory in north Africa was found by the Police, an official said on Friday.

A 19-year-old woman took the case through a pedestrian crossing from Morocco into the small Spanish-governed territory of Ceuta on Thursday, a spokesman for the Civil Guard police force said.

"The operator noticed something strange when they put the suitcase through the scanner, which seemed to be a person inside the case".

"They found a minor when it was opened, in a terrible state."

The boy from Ivory Coast said he was eight years old, according to the spokesman.

The woman, who was due to go before a judge was arrested by the Civil Guard.

The boy's father was also arrested when he tried to cross the border a few hours later. The father is Ivorian and lives in Spain's Canary Islands.

Each year, thousands of immigrants risk their lives trying to enter Ceuta and another Spanish territory bordering Morocco, Melilla, in search of a better life in Europe.

Many Africans try to scramble over the seven metre (23-foot) fences that separate the Spanish cities from Morocco.

Hidden in vehicles, others smuggle themselves over the border or try to swim or sail from shores on the Moroccan side.

A 23-year-old Moroccan earlier this week was found in a shipping container in the port of Melilla. He was dehydrated after four days cooped up without food or water, since the container was left unattended over the May holiday weekend.