Boy, 12, found hidden inside car dashboard in shocking smuggling picture after cops use heartbeat detector
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This shocking picture shows a 12-year-old boy curled up inside the dashboard of a car in a suspected smuggling oepration.
The schoolboy, believed to be from Guinea in West Africa,was hiding in a foetal position in a pair of dirty shorts.
The youngster wasstuffed into the tiny space between the engine and the passenger of the BMW X5.
Officers found him after detecting his heartbeat using a special machine.
They then reached into the dashboard with their hands at a checkpoint on the border between Morocco and Spain’s north African enclave of Melilla.
The car was ripped apart to retrieve the child.
A spokesman for the Civil Guard, the force which discovered the youngster, said: “The operation began when officers stopped a BMW X5 with a Moroccan numberplate so they could inspect the driver’s vehicle and personal ID documents.
(Image: SOLARPIX.COM)
“He was then asked to open his boot but nothing untoward was found," the spokesman contiunued.
“A tiny detail aroused the suspicion of officers when a heart beat sensor was passed over the car, a high-end vehicle in very good condition.
“The boy was found during an exhaustive search inside the dashboard. An officer felt the body of a person after introducing his hand and immediately ripped off part of it to remove and assist the human being who turned out to be a young boy.”
The child was said to have been disorientated and suffering breathing difficulties and numbness in his limbs because of the position he had been forced to adopt.
He was given medical assistance at the scene.
The driver of the Moroccan-plated vehicle stopped by police, a 65-year-old, was arrested and is expected to be remanded in custody after appearing before an investigating judge in the next 24 hours.