Eight-year-old Boy Smuggled to Spain in Suitcase Reunites with Mother
MADRID, June 9 (UPI) — Adou Ouattara, an 8-year-old Ivorian boy discovered inside a suitcase being smuggled into Spain, has been reunited with his mother.
Adou was granted a year’s stay in Spain by authorities. Adou’s father, Ali Ouattara, arranged for his son to be smuggled out of Morocco by a Moroccan woman, both of whom were arrested after Adou was discovered.
Adou was in a “terrible state” when he was found last month by airport authorities in the city of Ceuta. On Monday, he was reunited with his mother, Lucie Ouattara, who who lives legally in Spain’s Canary Islands.
Lucie Ouattara defended her husband’s actions, saying he did it to save Adou’s life — as her son suffered from malaria and could not be treated in his native Ivory Coast.
His father, who also lives in the Canary Islands, said he did not know his son would be smuggled inside a suitcase into Spain. He attempted to bring Adou into the country legally, but his income fell short of the amount required by law, according to BBC News.
