Four migrants discovered sealed into a car in Melilla

ON the afternoon of Sunday September 4, officers of the Guardia Civil recognised the number plates of a people carrier attempting to enter Melilla from Morocco and decided to investigate the driver and the vehicle as they thought that it might be involved in people trafficking.

After a thorough search, the officers discovered a false double bottom under the front seats of the vehicle at which time, they heard frenzied knocking. They heard a woman shouting in French “Please, please, get me out of here. I’m scared. I cannot feel my legs and have very swollen feet”.

In view of the panic in the woman’s voice and the extreme heat, the officers requested assistance from the Fire Department who on attending used power tools to cut into the hidden compartment.

Three men all from Guinea and aged between 21 and 23 together with a 27-year-old woman from the Congo were discovered in a distressed state in the body of the car and were removed and sent for medical care, but all are now recovered.

The Moroccan driver has been taken into custody on suspicion of a crime against foreign citizens.